
Glass. 
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PRESENTED BY 



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PRE FACE. 

'o compile this book, during my leisure hours, has 
been more a labor of love than an expectation of 
gain ; to snatch from oblivion what otherwise 
would be lost, and to. refresh the memories of our citi- 
zens of the facts and events that have transpired in a 
lifetime, and leave to the rising generation a history 
of the town (though imperfect) to which reference can 
be made to learn how our ancestors struggled amidst 
adversity to build a city, with churches and institutions 
of learning, that should be a credit to themselves and 
a benefit to posterity. 

What little knowledge I possess I have gleaned 
from the citizens of Georgetown, among whom I was 
born and reared; and what little property I enjoy I 
owe to their patronage. The older citizens of the 
town were well acquainted with the father of the 
Chronicler. — He was no general; he never com- 
manded an army and slew thousands of men and 
gained a victory ; neither was he the governor of a 
province, and starved the peasantry to feed an idle 
court, but a peaceable, quiet citizen, a store-keeper by 
occupation ; and when he died, he left the Chronicler, 
then thirteen years of age, an heir to his good repu- 
tation. 

To the Lady Superior of the Academy of the Visi- 
tation, and to General Humphreys and Major "Weiss 
of the Engineer Department; to Colonel' Theodore 
Samo, of the Washington Aqueduct; to Benjamin 
Fawcett, clerk of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Com- 
pany ; to Eev. J. S. Sumner, S. J., editor of the College 
Journal; to Josiah Dent, president of the Linthicum 
Institute, and Charles M. Matthews, Joseph Libbey, 
William Shoemaker, M. D., William W. Winship, 
secretary to trustees of Presbyterian Church, and other 
citizens, I feel grateful for their kind assistance to me 
while compiling this book. 

The Chronicler. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. PAGE . 

Indian History - 1 

How the Town was laid out 3 

Copt from a Land Patent 6 

Test Oath 6 

Divisions of the Town and Reference to the Deed Books 

in which they are Recorded 7 

Charter as Amended, and in Force from 1789 to 1871... 9 

Sketch of the Town and its Surroundings 28 

Who Framed the Original Constitution 34 

William Wirt 35 

Ludicrous Scenes 37 

Duels 38 

Depression in Business 39 

Beginning of the Canal 40 

Channel of the River 43 

Contest for the Upper and Lower Roads Leading to 

Fall's Bridge 45 

The Holland Loan 46 

Opposition to the Alexandria Aqueduct 46 

Basis of an Agreement for the Consolidation of Wash- 
ington City and Georgetown 47 

Sketch of its Legislation 53 

Officers of the Corporation 57 

Names of the Streets 60 

Illuminating the Town 61- 

Ants from the West Indies 62 

A Breeze in Town 63 



VIII 

Long Bridge 64 

Population 68 

CHAPTER II. 

Potomac River ." 69 

Ice-Floes 71 

The Causeway 72 

Freshets , '. 74 

Cold Winters 75 

Seventeen-Year Locusts 78 

CHAPTER III. 

Potomac Canal 80 

Falls Bridge 81 

Military Companies , 87 

Contested Elections 89 

Banks in Georgetown 93 

CHAPTER IV. 

Post-Office and Custom-House 99 

List of Postmasters 101 

Collectors of Customs 101 

Market House 102 

Fire Companies 104 

Destruction by the Flames 106 

Metropolitan Railroad... 108 

List of Newspapers 110 

Literati 110 

CHAPTER V. 

Poor-House, and Will of John Barnes 112 

Donation of W. W. Corcoran 117 

Commerce 118 

Alexandria Aqueduct 126 

Washington Aqueduct 130 



IX 

CHAPTER VI. 

Catholic Trinity Church 140 

Presbyterian Church 143 

St. John's Episcopal Church 163 

Christ Episcopal Church 183 

Methodist Episcopal Church 204 

Methodist Protestant Church 205 

German Lutheran Church 209 

Baptist Church 213 

Colored Churches 214 

CHAPTER, VII. 

Georgetown College 215 

The Monastery and Academy op the Visitation 226 

Georgetown Collegiate Institute. 230 

Peabody Library 230 

Linthicum Institute 238 

Public Schools 244 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Oak Hill Cemetery — Generosity of W. W. Corcoran... 264 

Holyrood Cemetery 268 

Presbyterian Burying-Ground 268 

Methodist Burying-Ground 270 

CHAPTER IX. 

History op Potomac Lodge, No. 5, F. A. A. M 271 

Sketch of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal 297 

The Outlet Lock 333 

Act of Congress Providing a Form of Government 

for the District of Columbia 335 



w 



CHRONICLES OF GEORGETOWN. 



CHAPTER I. 

Indian History — How the Town was lair out — Copy from a 
Land Patent — Test Oath — Divisions of the Town and Ref- 
erence to the Deed Books in which they are Recorded — 
Charter as Amended, and in Force from 1789 to 1871 — 
Sketch of the Town and its Surroundings — Who Framed 
the Original Constitution — -William Wirt — Ludicrous 
Scenes — Duels — -Depression in Business and Beginning of 
the Canal — Channel of the River, and Contest for the 
Upper and Lower Roads Leading to Fall's Bridge — The 
Holland Loan, and Opposition to the Alexandria Aque- 
duct — Basis of an Agreement for the Consolidation of 
Washington City and Georgetown — Sketch of its Legisla- 
tion — Officers of the Corporation— Names of the Streets 
— Illuminating the Town — Ants from the West Indies — 
A Breeze in Town — Long Bridge — Population. 

The original inhabitants of Maryland, out of which 
the District of Columbia was carved, were Indians. 
According to a letter written by Captain John Smith 
in 1626, to Queen Anne of Great Britian, who had 
been sent to America to explore the Chesapeake Bay, 
and the coast of Maryland, reported that more than 
forty tribes of Indians inhabited the shores of Mary- 
land and Virginia. The principal tribes were the 
Manahoacs, the Powhatans, and the Monacans. It 
is generally believed that the Powhatans occupied 
that space of country between the Chesapeake Bay 



2 INDIAN HISTORY. 

and the Patuxent River in Maryland ; the tribes call- 
ed the Manahoacs and Monacans are supposed to 
have roamed the shores of Virginia, between York 
and the Potomac Rivers ; the Shawanees are supposed 
to have inhabited that tract of land lying between 
the Chesapeake Ba}^ and the Alleghany Mountains. 
Mr. Elliot, in his history of the District of Columbia, 
says : " that the tribe called the Susquehanocks lived 
on the banks of the Susquehanna River; the Tock- 
wocks and others occupied Kent, Queen Anne, and 
Talbot Counties ; the Manahoacs and Monacans were 
in alliance with each other and waged perpetual war 
against the Powhatans." It is generally admitted 
that they were the occupiers of the territory which 
forms the District of Columbia. 

Sir "Walter Raleigh and Captain Smith were the 
great navigators who visited the New World and 
made maps and charts of the same, especially of the 
Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River, and learned the 
habits of the Indians. One habit Raleigh carried 
with him to England was, the habit of smoking 
tobacco; he introduced it at court, and it became 
fashionable among all of the nobility. On one occa- 
sion Raleigh made a bet with Queen Elizabeth that 
he could tell the weight of smoke from his pipe of 
tobacco. The Queen covered his bet; when Raleigh 
filled his pipe with tobacco. He then emptied the 
same into a pair of delicate scales, and after weigh- 
ing it, he returned it to his pipe, and, setting fire to 
the same, commenced smoking. After the tobacco 
was consumed, he emptied the ashes into the scales, 



HOW THE TOWN WAS LAID OUT. 3 

and substracting the weight of ashes from the tobacco, 
he told the Queen the weight of the smoke. The 
Queen remarked that she had seen many a man con- 
vert gold into smoke, but this was the first time she 
had seen smoke converted into gold. 

Frederick County, in Maryland, was formed by an 
act of the Legislature in 1748. Montgomery County 
in 1776, was carved out of Frederick. An act was 
passed by Congress, July 16, 1790, to establish the 
permanent seat of Government of the United States, 
and on the 30th day of March, 1791, President Wash- 
ington, then in Georgetown, issued his proclamation 
concerning the permanent seat of Government of the 
United States as being located in the District of Co- 
lumbia. This proclamation closes as follows : 

" In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of 
the United States to be affixed to these presents, and 
sign the same with my hand. 

Done at Georgetown, aforesaid, the 30th day of 
March, in the year of our Lord, 1791, and the Inde- 
pendence of the United States the fifteenth. 

By the President : 

GEORGE WASHINGTON," 
Thomas Jefferson. 

HOW THE TOWN WAS LAID OUT. 

The beginning of Georgetown was, by legislative 
enactment, of the then province of Maryland. 

The Legislature of Maryland, by act of May 15, 
1751, authorized Henry Wright Crabb, John Needbam, 
John Clagett, James Perry, and David Lynn, Com- 
missioners, to lay oat and erect a town on the Poto- 



4 HOW THE TOWN WAS LAID OUT. 

mac River, above the mouth of Rock Creek, in Fred- 
erick County, Maryland, and empowered them to pur- 
chase sixty acres — part of the tracts of land belonging 
to George Gordon and George Beall, at the place 
aforesaid, where it shall appear to them to be most 
convenient — and to survey the same into eighty lots, 
to be erected into a town, and to be called George- 
town. 

The Commissioners met September 18, 1751, and 
chose Alexander Beall to be Clerk and Surveyor, and 
Josiah Beall, Coroner. 

Mr. Gordon and Mr. Beall refusing to sell to the Com- 
missioners the tract selected by them as " most con- 
venient ;" it was appraised, and two hundred and eighty 
pounds, currency, were awarded to the said Gordon 
and Beall as damages, by the following j ury, viz : 
William Pritchett, Ninian Magruder, Nicholas Baker, 
James Beall, Nathaniel Magruder, Charles Clagett, 
Thomas Clagett, James Holman, Charles Jones, Zacha- 
riah Magruder, James Wallace, Basil Beall, William 
Williams, Alexander Magruder, William Wallace, and 
John Magruder, son of Alexander. 

The survey and plat was completed February 27, 
1752, and the Commissioners named the lots, streets, 
and lanes ; and the eighty lots were assessed at two 
hundred and eighty pounds, currency. 

To Mr. Gordon and to Mr. Beall was allowed the 
privilege of first selecting two lots each. Mr. Gordon 
chose lots 48 and 52, but Mr. Beall, having refused to 
recognize in any way the proceedings of the Commis- 
sioners, was notified that "if he did not make his 



HOW THE TOWN WAS LAID OUT. 5 

choice within ten days from the 28th of February, he 
could only blame himself for the consequences." 
"Whereupon, after a week's reflection, Mr. Beall sent 
the following answer : 

" If I must part with my property by force, I had 
better save a little than be totally demolished. Rather 
than have none, I accept these lots, — "Nos. 72 and 79 — 
said to be Mr. Henderson's and Mr. Edmonston's. 
But I do hereby protest, and declare that my accept- 
ance of the said lots, which is by force, shall not debar 
me from future redress from the Commissioners or 
others, if I can have the rights of a British subject. 
God save King George ! 

Nardil, 1752. GEORGE BEALL." 

Many persons suppose that the name of Georgetown 
was given in honor of the commander of the army of the 
Revolution ; but this cannot be so, as General Wash- 
ington was born on the 22cl day of February, 1732, 
and when the town was laid out, he was quite a young 
man engaged in the profession of surveying under 
Lord Fairfax, and had not established his great reputa- 
tion as a military man. Others, again, suppose that 
the name came from George Beall, who was an able 
soldier and a great fighter of Indians in the province, 
but more likely it took its name from George II, King 
of Great Britain," towards whom all the provinces in 
America were at that time loyal ; but let the name 
come from whence it may, the town has grown and 
prospered under that name, and if it had been named 
differently, its adversity and prosperity would have 
been the same. 



6 COPY FROM A LAND PATENT. 

■ 

The original land patent issued by Henry Darnell, 
keeper of the great seals of the State of Maryland, 
November 18, 1703, to Mnian Beall for seven hun- 
dred and five acres Rock of Dunbarton, which tract of 
land is now covered by a portion of the city of George- 
town, has recently been examined and authenticated 
copies made for reference. The papers recite that the 
patent is made in consideration of there being due to 
Beall five hundred acres, under a warrant of the 19th 
of May, 1702 , and the property is described as lying in 
said Prince George's County, beginning at the south- 
east corner tree of a tract of land taken for Robert 
Mason, standing by Potomac River side, at the mouth 
of Rock Creek, on a point running thence with said 
land N". !N". West six hundred and forty perches, then 
east three hundred and twenty perches, thence south 
61°, easterly four hundred and eighteen perches, then 
west twenty perches, then S. S. "West one hundred 
and seventy-five perches, thence with a straight line 
by the creek and river to the first bound containing, 
and there laid out for, seven hundred and ninety-five 
acres. 

TEST OATH. 

When the town began to grow in size, and various 
offices were created, and citizens appointed to fill them, 
a test oath appears to have been required from all offi- 
cers. Among the records of the town, now in the Sur- 
veyor's office of the District of Columbia, is a quaint 
old document, which the chronicler copies for the bene- 
fit of his readers. It relates to a meeting of the com- 
missioners, February 24th, 1772, and appointing one 



DIVISIONS OF THE TOWN. 7 

Thomas Branan as flour inspector ; when there was 
administered to him the several oaths of office, he re- 
peated and signed the following : 

" I, Thomas Branan, do declare that I do believe 
that there is not any transubstantiation in the sacra- 
ment of the Lord's supper, or in the elements of bread 
and wine, at or after the consecration thereof, by any 
person whatsoever. 

THOMAS BRANAN." 

No religious test is now required to fill the office of 
flour inspector, or any other office in the gift of the 
Government. 

DIVISIONS OF THE TOWN AND REFERENCE TO DEED BOOKS 
IN WHICH THEY ARE RECORDED. 

The town, as originally laid out, only consisted of 
sixty acres of land. Several additions have since been 
added, as follows : 

Beall's first addition, known by the name of the 
Rock of Dumbarton, containing sixty-one acres, was 
added by act of Assembly passed at November ses- 
sion, 1783, and recorded in liber B, page 223, at Eock- 
ville, Md. Peter Beatty, Threlkeld & Deakin's ad- 
dition at November session, 1784, containing twenty 
acres, and divided into sixty-five lots, and recorded 
in liber K, No. 10, folio 31, District of Columbia. 
Beall's second addition, supposed to be recorded at 
Rockville, Maryland. Deakin & Bailey's, and Threl- 
keld's addition, liber W. B., No. 14, page 55 to 73; 
Deakin, Lee & Cazanove's addition A. F., No. 31, page 
448 to 466 ; Holmead's addition, deed of partition 0, 



8 DIVISIONS OF THE TOWN. 

liber 14, page 15 ; liber B, "ISTo. 2, folio 702, original 
plan of Georgetown; liber K, No. 10, from page 8 
to 28, Beatty &• Hawkins ; slip recorded in liber C, 
from 423 to folio 426 ; slip recorded in liber 13, liber 
S, No. 18, Corporation of Georgetown, to John M. 
Beatty and Charles A. Beatty ; liber T, No. 19, page 
146, map of water lots ; liber W. B., ISTo. 59, Canal 
Condemnations ; liber W. B., No. 99, map of lots be- 
tween Bridge, Gay, High, and Congress Streets. 

The town was incorporated by act of Assembly of 
Maryland, passed at November session, 1789, to which 
additional powers were given in 1797, and 1799 ; also 
by the act of Congress of 1802, chap. 52, March 3d ; 
1805, page 310, vol. 2d ; also 1809, page 332 ; also 1813, 
vol. 3, page 1 ; also 1824, vol. 4, page, 75 ; also May 
31st, 1830, vol. 4, page 420 ; also 1826, vol. 4, page 
183 ; also March 3, 1826, page 140 ; also August 19, 
1841, vol. 5, page 449 ; also July 27, 1842, vol. 5, page 
497 ; also March 3d, 1843, vol. 5, page 629 ; also June 
17, 1844, vol. 5, page 721 ; also August 11, 1856, vol. 
11, page 321; also May 21, 1862, vol. 12, page 405. 

This last relates to the distribution of Potomac water 
in which all the citizens are deeply interested. The 
legal style of the Corporation was known by name of 
the " Mayor, Eecorcler, Aldermen, and Common Coun- 
cil of Georgetown," which charter was as follows : 



CHARTER. 9 

CHARTER OF GEORGETOWN, AS AMENDED, AND IN FORCE 
FROM 1789 TO 1871. 



I. Organization — -II. Jurisdiction — III. General Powers and 

Duties — IV. Miscellaneous Provisions. 
[Note. — All clauses in brackets are from the acts of Maryland.] 



i. — organization. 
[Georgetown shall be, and hereby is, erected, consti- 
tuted and made an incorporate town, consisting of a 
Mayor, Recorder,] and two branches; the first branch 
to be composed of five members and the Recorder, 
and to be called the Board of Aldermen ; and the 
second branch to be composed of eleven members, 
and to be called the Board of Common Councilmen ; 
[which said Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen, and Com- 
mon Councilmen shall be a body incorporate and one 
community forever, in right and by the name of the 
Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen, and Common Council of 
the said town ; and shall be able and capable to sue 
and be sued at law, and to act and execute, do and 
perform, as a body incorporate, which shall have suc- 
cession forever, and to that end to have a common 
seal, and the same to alter and change at their pleas- 
ure.] 

THE MAYOR. 

On the fourth Monday in February, 1831, and on 
the same day biennially thereafter, the citizens of 
Georgetown, qualified to vote for members of the two 
boards of the corporation, shall, by ballot, elect some 
fit and proper person, having the qualifications now 



JO CHARTER. 

required by law, to be Mayor of the Corporation of 
Georgetown, to continue in office two years and until 
a successor is duly elected ; and the person having at 
said election, which shall be conducted by judges of 
election appointed by the corporation, the greatest 
number of legal votes, shall be declared duly elected; 
and in the event of an equal number of votes being 
given to two or more candidates, the two boards in 
joint meeting, by ballot, shall elect the Mayor from 
the persons having such 'equal number of votes. 

In the event of the death or resignation of the 
Mayor, or of his inability to discharge the duties of 
his office, the two boards of the corporation in joint 
meeting, by ballot, shall elect some fit person to fill 
the office until the next regular election. 

]STo person shall be eligible to the office of Mayor 
unless he be a citizen of. the United States, of the age 
of thirty years, a resident of the town for five years 
last past, and unless he shall have paid a tax to the 
corporation. 

Before he acts as such, the Mayor shall make oath 
before some justice of the peace for the County of 
"Washington, in the presence- of both branches of the 
corporation, that he will well and faithfully discharge 
the several and respective duties of his office. 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE MAYOR. 

The Mayor shall have power, upon the application 
of at least five members of the corporation, in writ- 
ing, to convene said corporation, giving reasonable 
notice of such intended meeting. 



CHARTER. 11 

He shall have and exercise the powers of a justice 
of the peace in the said town. 

He shall receive for his services annually, a just and 
reasonable compensation, to be allowed and fixed by 
the corporation. 

It shall be his duty to see that the laws of the cor- 
poration are duly executed ; to report the negligence 
or misconduct of any officer to the said corporation ; 
and to lay before the corporation, from time to time, 
in writing, such alterations in the laws as he shall deem 
necessary and proper. 

He shall sign all ordinances duly passed by both 
branches of the corporation, unless he objects thereto, 
within forty-eight hours after the time the same is pre- 
sented to him for his signature ; and if he does so ob- 
ject, he shall immediately return the ordinance, with 
his objections, in writing, to the corporation. If it is 
afterwards passed according to law, he shall sign the 
same. If he shall not return the same within the time 
aforesaid, he shall sign the same. 

No ordinance shall be passed unless approved by 
the Mayor, or passed under the provisions made in 
case of his objecting thereto. 

[See also " IV. Miscellaneous Provisions."] 

THE RECORDER. 

On the first Monday of January in every year, the 
corporation shall, by a joint ballot of the said two 
branches present, choose some fit and proper person 
learned in the law, to be Recorder of the said corpora- 
tion, to continue in office one year. 



12 CHARTER. 

The Recorder, before he acts as such, shall make 
oath before some justice of the peace for the County of 
Washington, in the presence of both branches of the 
corporation, that he will well and faithfully discharge 
the several and respective duties of his office. 

In the event of a tie vote upon any question in the 
Board of Aldermen, the Recorder shall have the cast- 
ing vote, and power thereby to determine the same to 
the same effect as if it hadbeen determined by a ma- 
jority of the aldermen present. 

In case of vacancy in the office of Recorder, the cor- 
poration shall, within five days thereafter, proceed to 
the choice of a fit person, qualified as aforesaid, to fill 
his place, in the manner hereinbefore provided. 

The Recorder of the corporation is hereby declared 
to be a member of the Board of Aldermen, to all in- 
tents and purposes whatever. 

THE TWO BRANCHES. 

On the fourth Monday in February, 1806, and bien- 
nial thereafter, the free white male citizens of the 
United States, who shall have attained the age of 
twenty-one years, and shall have resided in Georgetown 
one year immediately preceding the day of election, 
and shall have been returned on the books of the corpo- 
ration during the year ending on the 31st of December 
next preceding the day of election, as subject to a 
school tax for that year — except persons non compos 
mentis, vagrants, paupers, and persons who shall have 
been convicted of any infamous crime — and who shall 
have paid the school taxes due from him, shall elect 



CHARTER. 1 3 

by ballot five fit and proper persons, citizens of the 
United States, residents of the said town one year 
next before the election, above twenty-one years of 
age, and having paid a tax to the corporation, to com- 
pose the Board of Alderman ; and the five persons 
voted for as Aldermen, who shall have the greatest 
number of legal votes on the final casting up of the 
polls shall be declared duly elected for the Board of 
Aldermen, the said Board of Aldermen to continue 
two years. 

On the fourth Monday in February in every year, 
the free white male citizens of Georgetown, having 
the qualifications prescribed for persons to be entitled 
to vote for members of the Board of Aldermen, shall 
elect, by ballot, eleven fit and proper persons, having 
the qualifications prescribed for members of the Board 
of Aldermen, to compose the Board of Common Coun- 
cil; and the eleven persons voted for as Common 
Council who shall have the greatest number of legal 
votes at the final casting up of the polls, shall be de- 
clared duly elected for the Board of Common Council, 
the said Board of Common Council to continue for 
one year. 

In case of vacancy in either branch, a fit person or 
persons qualified as aforesaid, shall be elected by the 
people in the same manner, five days' notice being 
given of such election. 

Each member of the two branches, before he acts 
as such, shall, in the presence of the corporation, take 
an oath to discharge the duties and trusts reposed in 
him with integrity and fidelity. 



14 CHARTER. 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE TWO BRANCHES, SEPARATELY. 

Four members of the Board of Aldermen and seven 
members of the Board of Common Council shall form 
a quorum to do business. 

Each board shall hold two sessions in each year, one 
to commence on the first Monday of March, and the 
other on the first Monday of December. 

Each board shall have power to adjourn from day 
to day ; and five members of either branch may cause 
the Mayor to convene the two boards, by an applica- 
tion to him in writing. 

Each branch shall judge of the elections, qualifica- 
tions, and returns of its own members ; and may com- 
pel the attendance of members by reasonable penal- 
ties. 

The Common Council shall choose out of their own 
body a president. 

Either branch shall have power to elect a president 
pro tempore in the absence of the one duly elected. 

Ordinances may originate in either branch, and shall 
be passed only by a majority of both branches during 
the same session. 

If the Board of Alderman shall be equally divided 
on any question before them, the Recorder shall have 
the casting vote, and determine such question to the 
same effect as if the same had been determined by a 
majority of the Aldermen present ; and similar power 
is given to the president of the second branch, in case 
of an equal division therein. 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE TWO BRANCHES, TOGETHER. 

If any ordinance, duly passed by both branches, shall 



CHARTER. 15 

be returned by the Mayor with his objections, in writ- 
ing, within forty-eight hours after the same is presented 
to him for his signature, and if, on reconsideration of 
the same, two-thirds of each branch shall be of opin- 
ion that the said law should be passed, it shall become 
a law, the objections of the Mayor notwithstanding. 

The two branches may remove from office, or take 
such other measures thereupon as shall be just and law- 
ful, any officer of the corporation, upon the report of 
the Mayor and satisfactory proof of negligence or 
misconduct on the part of such officer. 

On the first Monday in January, annually, the two 
branches by joint ballot shall choose some fit and 
proper person, learned in the law, to be the Recorder 
of the corporation. 

In the event of an equal number of votes being 
given to two or more candidates for Mayor at the 
regular election, the two boards in joint meeting, by 
ballot, shall elect the Mayor from the persons having 
such equal number of votes. 

In the event of the death or resignation of the 
Mayor, or of his inability to discharge the duties of his 
office, the two boards of the corporation in joint meet- 
ing, by ballot, shall elect some fit person to fill the 
office until the next regular election. 

IT. — JURISDICTION. 

The following are hereby declared the limits of 
Georgetown, any law or regulation to the contrary 
notwithstanding : Beginning in the middle of Col- 
lege Street, as laid down in Fenwick's map of the 
town, at or near the bank of the Potomac River; 



10 CHARTER. 

thence by a straight line northerly through the middle 
of said street to the middle of First Street ; thence 
by a line drawn through the middle of First Street to 
a point directly opposite to the termination of the 
eastern line of the lots now enclosed as the property 
of the college ; thence northerly by the eastern line of 
said enclosure so far as the same extends ; thence in 
the same northerly direction to the middle of Fourth 
Street : thence easterly by a line drawn along the mid- 
dle of Fourth Street to a point at the distance of one 
hundred and twenty feet westerly from the west side 
of Fayette Street ; thence northerly by a line drawn 
parallel to Fayette Street at the said distance of one 
hundred and twenty feet west, from the w T est side 
thereof, until it intersects a boundary line of Beatty 
and Hawkins' addition to Georgetown ; thence west- 
erly by said boundary line so far as it extends ; thence 
by the courses and distances of the several other 
boundary lines of Beatty and Hawkins' addition afore- 
said, that is to say, westerly, northerly, easterly, and 
southerly to a point opposite the middle of Eoad 
Street, and opposite to or nearly opposite to the mid- 
dle of Eighth Street; thence east by a line drawn 
through the middle of Eoad Street as it now runs, as 
far as it extends; thence easterly by a line drawn 
parallel with Back Street (now Stoddard Street) and 
continued in the same direction to the middle of Rock 
Creek ; thence by the middle of the same creek and 
the middle of the Potomac River to a point directly 
opposite to the middle of College Street aforesaid ; 
thence to the place of beginning. 



CHARTER. 17 

The said limits of Georgetown between Seventh 
and Eighth Streets, are further extended so as to ex- 
tend westwardly from Fayette Street three hundred 
feet. 

So much of the territory of Georgetown as lies 
west of Fayette Street, and between the north line of 
Third Street and a line drawn parallel therewith from 
a point on the west line of Fayette Street at the end 
of sixty feet north of the line of Sixth Street, is ex- 
exclucled from the limits of the town, except the fol- 
lowing lots in Threlkeld's addition, viz: One hun- 
dred and fifty-three, one hundred and sixty-one, one 
hundred and sixty-two, one hundred and sixty-three, 
one hundred and seventy-two, one hundred and sev- 
enty-four, one hundred and seventy-six, one hundred 
and seventy-eight, and the south half of lot one hun- 
dred and seventy-one. 

The jurisdiction of the Corporation of Georgetown 
is extended so as to include the bridge across the Poto- 
mac River at the Little Falls, the site thereof, and all 
premises appertaining to the site. 

The limits of Georgetown are extended so as to in- 
clude " Pretty Prospect," the site of the Poors' house, 
contained within the following bounds : Commenc- 
ing at a stone marked ISTo. 4, extending at the end of 
four hundred and seventy-six poles on the first line of 
a tract of land called the " Rock of Dunbarton," said 
stone also standing on the western boundary line of 
lot No. 260 of Beatty and Hawkins' addition to 
Georgetown ; running thence north 78° east, thirty- 
eight poles; south 80° east, three poles; south eigh- 



18 CHARTER. 

teen poles; south 12° east, nine poles ; south 11° west, 
twelve poles; south 72° west, twenty three poles, to 
the said first line of the " Eock of Dumbarton ;" thence 
with said line to the beginning. 

III. — POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE CORPORATION. 

The corporation shall have power to impose and col- 
lect a tax of seventy cents in the hundred dollars on 
all property by law taxable in the town ; shall have 
perpetual succession; shall have power to regulate 
the inspection of fiour and tobacco in the town ; to 
prevent the introduction of contagious diseases; to 
establish night watches and paroles, and to erect 
lamps; to regulate the stationing, anchorage, and 
mooring of vessels ; to provide for licensing and reg- 
ulating auctions, ordinaries, and retailers of liquors, 
hackney carriages, wagons, carts, and drays within 
said town ; to restrain and prohibit gambling ; to pro- 
vide for licensing, regulating, or restraining theatri- 
cal or other public amusements ; to regulate and es- 
tablish markets; to pass all laws for the regulation of 
weights and measures ; to provide for the licensing 
and regulating the sweeping of chimneys, and fix the 
rates thereof; to establish and regulate fire wards and 
fire companies ; to regulate and establish the size of 
bricks to be made and used in the said town ; the in- 
spection of salted provisions and the assize of bread ; 
to sink wells and erect and repair pumps in the streets ; 
to erect work-houses; to restrain, regulate, and direct 
the manner of building wharves and docks, and to 
direct the manner in which the improvements thereon 
shall be erected, so that they may not be injurious to 



CHARTER. 19 

the health of the town ; to direct or order the paved 
streets to be cleansed and kept clean, and appoint an 
officer for that purpose ; to make and keep in repair 
all necessary sewers and drains, and to pass regula- 
tions necessary for the preservation of the same. 

To appoint constables and collectors of taxes, and 
all other officers who may be deemed necessary for the 
execution of their laws, and prescribe their duties and 
powers ; 

[To sue and be sued at law; to act and execute, do 
and perform, as a body incorporate ; to have a com- 
mon seal, and alter and change the same at pleasure ;] 

[To cause, from time to time as they deem necessary, 
a correct survey of the town to be made, and estab- 
lish and fix permanent boundaries and stones at such 
places as they may deem necessary to ascertain and 
perpetuate the true lines of the town ; to survey the 
streets, lanes, and alleys, and declare the same, and 
to adjudge as nuisances all encroachments thereon ;] 

[To make such by-laws for the graduation and lev- 
elling of the streets, lanes, or alleys of the town as 
they may judge necessary;] 

[To erect wharves on all streets, lanes, or alleys of 
said town, provided no buildings be erected on the front 
of said wharves;] 

[To pass, make, and ordain all laws necessary to 
take up, fine, imprison, or punish any and all va- 
grants, loose and disorderly persons, and persons hav- 
ing no visible means of support, that may be found 
within the tow T n ;] 

[To make such by-laws for the regulation and good 



20 CHARTER. 

government of the town, and the inhabitants thereof, 
and to restrain all disorders and disturbances ; and to 
prevent all nuisances, inconveniences, and annoyan- 
ces within the said town, and other matters, exigen- 
cies, and things within said town, as to a major part 
of them shall seem meet and consonant to reason, and 
not contrary to the constitution and laws of this State ;] 

To provide for licensing, taxing, and regulating 
within the town all traders, retailers, pawnbrokers; 
and to tax venders of lottery tickets, money changers, 
hawkers, and peddlers ; 

To abate, break up, and abolish, by such means as 
they may deem expedient and proper, all places and 
depots of confinement of slaves brought to the District 
of Columbia as merchandise ; 

To introduce a supply of water into the town ; and 
to cause the streets, lanes, and alleys, or any of them, 
to be lighted by gas or otherwise ; and to provide for 
the expense of the same, either by a special tax or out 
of its corporate funds, or both, at its discretion ; 

To lay, impose, and collect every year, a school tax 
of one dollar per annum, upon every free white male 
citizen of the age of twenty-one years and upwards ; 

And to pass all laws not inconsistent with the laws 
of the United States, which may be necessary to give 
effect and operation to all the powers vested in said 
corporation. 

IV. — MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS — FINES — PENALTIES — 
AND FORFEITURES. 

[The by-laws made by the corporation shall be ob- 
served by the inhabitants of the town, and all persons 



CHARTER. 21 

trading therein, under such reasonable penalties, fines, 
and forfeitures as shall be imposed by the said by- 
laws, not exceeding seven pounds ten shillings current 
money, or twenty dollars ; said penalties, fines, and 
forfeitures to be levied by distress and sale of the goods, 
or execution of the person so offending.] 

[The corporation may pass, &c, laws to take up, fine, 
and punish vagrants, &c. : Provided, That they shall 
not, in any case, pass, make, or ordain any law to fine 
for any one offence a sum exceeding twenty dollars, 
or to imprison exceeding thirty days.] 

The corporation shall have power to impose and ap- 
propriate fines, penalties, and forfeitures for breaches 
of their ordinances. 

[If any person committed to jail under this act shall 
not, at the expiration of the term for which he was 
committed, pay the amount of his fine and prison fees, 
or give security therefor, it shall be lawful for the 
sheriff, with the written consent of the Mayor, to sell 
such person as a servant for any term that the Mayor 
shall prescribe, not exceeding four months.] 

The corporation may recover all fines, penalties, 
and forfeitures incurred under their charter, laws, and 
ordinances, by warrant before any justice of the peace 
in the District of Columbia; subject to appeal to the 
Circuit Court, as in other cases of small debts. 

BRIDGES — ROADS, &C. 

The two bridges over Rock Creek, between the 
cities of Washington and Georgetown, shall be kept 
in repair and rebuilt at the joint expense of the two 
cities. 



22 CHARTER. 

The Corporation of Georgetown shall contribute 
and pay to the levy court of the County of Washing- 
ton,, one-fourth of the expenses incurred by said court 
on account of the orphan's court, the office or coroner, 
the jail of said county, and one-half the expenses in- 
curred by said court in the opening and repairing of 
roads in the County of "Washington, west of Rock 
Creek, leading to Georgetown. 

The Corporation of Georgetown shall keep the road 
leading to the bridge across the Potomac River at the 
Little Falls, and the bridge, free and in repair for- 
ever. 

SPECIAL TAXES. 

The corporation may lay and collect a special tax, 
annually, not exceeding seventy-five cents in the hun- 
dred dollars, upon all property by law taxable, and on 
all money vested or held in banking, exchange, insur- 
ance, or brokerage companies, upon all stocks, and 
money loaned, to pay their subscription to the stock 
of the Metropolitan Railroad Companies, and to pledge 
the same so that no part thereof shall in any event be 
applied to any other object. 

TAXES. 

Public notice of the time and place of sale of any 
real property chargeable with taxes in Georgetown 
shall be given once in each week for twelve successive 
weeks in some one newspaper printed in Georgetown 
and Alexandria, and in the National Intelligence?', in 
which shall be stated the number of the lot or lots, or 
part of lots, intended to be sold, the value of the assess- 
ment, and the amount of taxes due and owing thereon. 



CHARTER. 23 

Public notice of the time and place of sale of any 
real property chargeable with taxes in Georgetown , in 
all cases (except where the property is owned by per- 
sons not residing in the District of Columbia) shall be 
given once in each week for twelve successive weeks 
in some one newspaper in the County of "Washington, 
in which shall be stated the number of the lot or lots, or 
parts thereof, intended to be sold, the value of the assess- 
ment, and the amount of taxes clue and owing thereon. 

If, before the day of sale, the taxes, with all costs, 
shall not be paid, said lots, or so much as may be suf- 
ficent to discharge the same, shall be sold for cash to 
the highest bidder ; a certificate from the proper offi- 
cer shall be issued to the purchaser, stating that he is 
the purchaser, and the amount paid by him. And if, 
at the expiration of twelve months from the day of 
sale, the amount of the purchase money, and costs, and 
taxes subsequently accruing, and ten per centum inter- 
est per annum on the purchase money, be. not paid, a 
title in fee simple shall be made to the purchaser : Pro- 
vided, That no real estate shall be sold for taxes where 
there is personal property belonging to the owner or 
tenant sufficient to pay the same. 

All titles to property sold for taxes shall be conveyed 
by deed from the Mayor under the seal of the corpora- 
tion ; which conveyance shall be effectual in law to 
convey the title, the requisitions of this act having been 
complied with. 

The amount of the purchase money over and above 
the taxes, costs, and charges upon the property, shall 
be paid to the owner, on his application for the same. 



24 CHARTER. 

If taxes are collected from a tenant, he may retain 
possession of the property until the rent accruing shall 
discharge the debt so created, and twenty-five per 
centum on the amount of taxes so paid by him, except 
where he has previously been in arrears for his rent. 

STREETS, ETC. 

The corporation may tax any particular portion of 
the town, for paving the streets, lanes, or alleys, or for 
sinking wells or erecting pumps, which may appear for 
the benefit of such portion : Provided, The rate of tax 
so levied shall not exceed two dollars per front foot. 

In addition to the above, the corporation shall have 
power upon petition, in writing, of the majority of the 
holders of the real property fronting on any street, 
lane, or alley, if, in their judgment, it shall be deemed 
necessary, to lay such additional sum on each front 
foot as will be sufficient to pave said street, or part of 
a street, lane, or alley petitioned for. 

[The corporation shall have full power and author- 
ity to make such by-laws and ordinances for the grad- 
uation and levelling of the streets, lanes, and alleys of 
the town, as they may judge necessary for the benefit 
thereof.] 

The corporation may lay out, open, extend, and reg- 
ulate streets, lanes, and alleys under the following reg- 
ulations : The Mayor shall summon twelve freeholders, 
inhabitants of the town, not interested in the premises, 
who, being first sworn to assess and value what dama- 
ges would be sustained by any person, by reason of ex- 
tending or opening any street, lane, or alley (taking all 
benefits and inconveniences into consideration), shall 



CHARTER. 25 

proceed to assess what damages would be sustained by 
any person, by reason of such opening or extension, and 
shall declare the amount, in money, each individual 
benefited thereby, shall contribute and pay towards 
compensating the persons injured thereby; and the 
names of the persons benefited, and the sums which 
each shall be obliged to pay, shall be returned under 
their hands and seals to the clerk of the corporation, 
to be kept in his office ; and the persons benefited as 
aforesaid, and assessed as aforesaid, shall pay the sums 
charged and assessed to Them, with six per centum, in- 
terest thereon from the time limited for the payment, 
until paid ; and the sums assessed and charged to each 
individual benefited, shall be a lien upon and bind all 
the property so benefited to the full amount thereof: 
Provided, No street, lane, or alley shall be laid out, 
opened, or extended until the damages assessed to in- 
dividuals shall be paid, or secured to be paid : And 
provided, also, That nothing herein shall authorize the 
laying out or opening of any street, lane, alley, or other 
way, through any of the squares or lots in Thos. Beall's 
second addition, north of Back Street, without the con- 
sent in writing of the owner or proprietor first had and 
obtained ; which consent shall be acknowledged in the 
presence of, and such acknowledgment certified by, 
the Mayor or some justice of the peace for the County 
of Washington. 

GENERAL ASSESSMENT. 

The corporation shall, on or about the first day of 
April, 1825, and every five years thereafter, cause 
three respectable freeholders, resident in said town, be- 



26 CHARTER. 

ing previously sworn, to assess and value, and make 
a return of all and every species of property by law- 
taxable in said corporation ; and in making their said 
valuation, they shall determine it agreeably to what 
they believe it to be worth in cash at that time. 

SCHOOL FUND. 

The school tax, which shall be levied and collected 
every year, shall constitute a fund, or be added to any 
other fund, now or hereafter to be constituted by act of 
said corporation, for the establishment and support of 
common schools, and for no other purpose. 

ELECTION PRECINCTS AND JUDGES. 

The corporation shall establish not less than two 
election precincts, and appoint not less than three 
judges of election for each precinct. 

NON-RESIDENT INSANE PERSONS. 

Upon the application of the Corporation of George- 
town, and at their expense, any indigent insane per- 
son, who did not reside in the District when he or she 
became insane, may be admitted into the Insane Hos- 
pital of this District. 

BUYING AND SELLING VOTES. 

If any person shall buy or sell a vote, or shall vote 
more than once at any corporate election, or shall give 
or receive any consideration therefor, or shall promise 
any valuable consideration, or vote in consideration of 
such promise, he shall be disqualified forever thereafter 
from voting or holding any office under said corpora- 
tion. 



CHARTER. 27 

CLERK OF THE CORPORATION. 

The clerk shall record in a book, to be kept for the 
purpose, all the laws and resolutions duly passed by 
the corporation, and deliver a copy of them to the pub- 
lic printer, to be printed by him for the use of the 
people. 

The clerk shall, on the presentation of the collector's 
receipt showing the person has paid his school tax, 
enter the name of the payer on the books of the cor- 
poration, and furnish the judges of election at each 
precinct, before or on the morning of the day of elec- 
tion before the hour of opening the polls, a list of the 
names of all persons who shall have paid their school 
tax for that year. 

FIRE REGULATIONS. 

The corporation shall annually appoint an inspector 
of fire engines, whose duty it shall be to examine and 
report the condition of the fire apparatus belonging to 
each fire company once a month. 

The corporation shall have full power and authority 
to make all necessary provisions for the prevention and 
extinguishment of fires ; for the preservation of order 
and protection of property at any fire ; for the removal 
from any fire of suspicious persons, and those who are 
disobedient to the regulations of the corporation ; for 
the punishment, by fine and imprisonment, of such 
person as, being present at, refuses to assist and obey 
the commands of the proper officer in extinguishing 
any fire ; for the removal of such property as may be 
necessary to be removed ; to prevent and arrest the 



28 SKETCH OF THE TOWN 

progress of any fire ; and to aid, protect, and obtain 
obedience to the officers in command of the several 
fire companies, and to protect the members thereof 
while in the discharge of their duty at any fire. 

SKETCH OF THE TOWN AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 

To have a good view of our town let the specta- 
tor ascend the heights to Holyrood Cemetery, at the 
intersection of High and Fayette Streets, and take a 
glance over the horizon, he will discover that the town 
is situated at the confluence of Rock Creek and the 
Potomac River, about three miles from the Little Falls, 
to which tide-water rises, and is separated by Rock 
Creek from Washington City, with which there is ready 
communication by means of four bridges crossing the 
creek at the intersection of Water, Aqueduct, Bridge, 
and West Streets. Cars run every few minutes over 
the M Street and West Street bridges, from the centre 
of the town to the Navy Yard. The position of the town 
is salubrious ; and, being elevated on hills that slope 
towards the creek and river, it has ample drainage, and 
has always escaped certain epidemics that have pre- 
vailed in other cities. In the distance we behold the 
heights of Arlington, late the residence of G. W. P. 
Custis, now made memorable by the late war, in laying 
it out as a cemetery for the dead. Not far from the 
mansion is the famous springs where the inhabitants 
of Georgetown and Washington would congregate to 
enjoy a conversation with the "old man eloquent," 
or step it off on the light fantastic toe; Mr. Custis 
having erected, at his own expense, a pavilion for 



AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 29 

the accommodation of all parties who came, with or 
without music, to spend a pleasant day. Above the 
town is the rocks called " the Three Sisters," on which 
it was proposed to build a wire suspension bridge 
for railroad and common travel, the plan of which 
was furnished to the town at a cost of two thousand 
dollars, but never erected, although a bill is now re- 
ported upon favorably by the District committee for 
the construction of a permanent bridge in that locality. 

!Near the Aqueduct stands the brick mansion where 
lived the author of " the Star Spangled Banner,"- Fran- 
cis S. Key, when he was a citizen of Georgetown, and 
prior to being appointed District Attorney, when he 
transferred his residence to Washington. 

Southwest of us is the Georgetown College, known 
to fame as the alma mater of many distinguished men 
who have here received their education and gone forth 
in the world to fill various offices in church and state. 
A little north of the college is the Monastery and the 
Academy of Sisters of the Visitation, embracing a 
large extent of ground, some thirty-three acres, with 
ample buildings fronting on Fayette Street. We will 
leave a further description of these institutions until 
we come to treat on education. 

Alexandria can be seen in the distance, with its 
church-spires and thousands of houses, over which 
rolled the clouds of smoke and flame on the 18th day 
of January, 1827, when from eighty to one hundred 
houses were destroyed. 

The Long Bridge extends itself across the Potomac 
from the District to the Virginia shore, and looks as if 



30 SKETCH OF THE TOWN 

it might be carried away by a freshet. Away to the 
east is seen the dome of the Capitol, and the Wash- 
ington Monument in an unfinished condition. Also 
the National Observatory, located on Camp Hill, where 
the professors record the appearance of the planets and 
comets. It is said that General Braddock landed his 
army and drilled his men here preparatory to his toil- 
some march with colonial troops to Fort Duquense, by 
a route through the city of Frederick to Cumberland. 
On the borders of Rock Creek stands Lyon's Mill, a 
great place of resort in the summer season. A little to 
the east is "Kalorama," famous for having been the 
residence of distinguished men. Joel Barlow, the au- 
thor of the " Columbiad," once resided here, also did 
Fulton, the inventor of the steam engine, make here 
his home when experimenting on the powers of steam. 
Here, also, were interred the remains of Commodore 
Decatur, who fell in a duel with Barron on the 22d 
day of March, 1820. Here, also, lived Col. George 
Bomford, when at the head of the Ordnance Bureau. 

Immediately west of Georgetown is the Alexandria 
Aqueduct, which connects the Chesapeake and Ohio 
Canal with Alexandria. The architect of this mag- 
nificent work was Major Turnbull, of the United States 
Corps of Engineers. It cost about six hundred thous- 
and dollars to erect the aqueduct, of which amount 
Congress gave four hundred thousand. As we shall 
write a chapter on this work, we leave its history to a 
future page. 

Just opposite the town is Analostan Island, with its 
beautiful trees and verdant fields, embracing near one 



AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 31 

hundred acres, and is denominated Mason's Island, 
being the former residence of the late General Mason, 
who entertained Louis Phillipe when on a visit to the 
United States in 1798. James M. Mason, late Con- 
federate Minister to Europe, was born here. The 
dwelling, in which so much princely hospitality was 
exhibited, was burnt down during the civil war. The 
island is now used as a pleasure resort. A stone cause- 
way connects the Island with the Virginia shore, which 
was erected in 1805, at a heavy expense, for the pur- 
pose of improving the channel of the river by throw- 
ing the whole body of water on the eastern side of 
the island. 

Just above the town, on the north bank of the river, 
is located the former "Columbian Foundry," belonging 
to the late John Mason, formerly called Foxall's Foun- 
dry, where was manufactured cannon, shot, and shell 
that were used in the late war with Great Britain. 
Since Mason's death the property has been sold, and is 
now used for milling purposes and a distillery. 

Further up the Potomac, three miles above the town, 
is the " Little Falls," a great place of resort in the 
summer season for fishing parties, also for picnics, and 
for persons seeking pleasure and amusement. The 
water has a fall here of thirty-three feet, and a narrow, 
contracted channel, through which the water shoots 
with great impetuosity. 

Twelve miles above the town is the " Great Falls," 
just above whose waterfall a dam has been erected to 
supply the reservoirs and tunnels with a full supply of 
water for the use of the cities of the District. A 



32 SKETCH OF THE TOWN 

description of the water works will be found in our 
chapter on the "Washington Aqueduct. 

On the heights of the town are situated some of the 
finest mansions in the country, occupied by citizens 
whose wealth enables them to retire from business and 
to devote their leisure in improving and embellishing 
their estates. ' " Monterey," the residence of the late 
Edward M. Linthicum, is a beautiful situation. This 
house was formerly occupied by John C. Calhoun, 
when Secretary of War under the administration of 
Monroe. ' Then comes " Tudor Place," the former 
residence of the late Thomas Peter, but more recently 
of Commodore Kenyon, who lost his life on board of 
the ill-fated steamship Princeton, on the 1st of March, 
1844. ISText is the residence of the late Brooke Wil- 
liams, where the Russian minister was captivated by the 
beauty of an American lady in May, 1841. The resi- 
dence of the late David Peter, which was formerly 
occupied by an English embassador, Baron Sir John 
Crampton, and afterwards by the minister from France, 
was unfortunately destroyed by fire during the war. 
Henry D. Cook purchased the grounds for fifty thous- 
and dollars, and on Stoddard Street has erected hand- 
some buildings. The next in order is the residence of 
the late Captain Boyce of the United States Navy, who 
unfortunately lost his life by a railroad accident in 
1855. Then comes the fine mansion of the late 
Samuel Turner, now owned by Joseph Weaver, and is 
fitted up in princely style. There are several other 
desirable residences on the heights, occupied by John 
Marbury, A. H. Herr, the Worthington family, Wil- 



AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 33 

liam Dougal, C. T. Peck, and " Evermay," the resi- 
dence of the late Samuel Davidson, now of John 
McPherson. 

Having now taken a circumspective view of the 
town from an elevation, let us descend into the city, 
and see what has been going on there. The town, 
being fortified by its charter, as already mentioned, 
then came into existence as a city. For many years 
a very active business was done by our wholesale 
and retail merchants, and numerous buildings and 
improvements were erected by our mechanics, which 
were an ornament to the town. 

Education was not neglected. Several private 
schools were conducted in the town at different periods 
of time : John Kellenberger taught in a school-house 
near the Bank of Columbia; James Graham in a 
building on the lot where the residence of Phillip T. 
Berry stands ; Matthew McLeod in a frame building 
on Gay Street. The Rev. James Carnahan taught a 
classical school, of high repute, until 1823, when Rev. 
James McVean conducted his classical and mathemati- 
cal academy on West Street, which was afterwards con- 
ducted by Rev. Mr. Simpson, from 1849 to 1857. Miss 
Lydia English t aught a ladies' seminary at the corner 
of "Washington and Gay Streets. William R. Abbot 
conducted a classical academy on West Street until 
his death in 1852. A Lancasterian school was con- 
ducted by the late Robert Ould on Beall Street, in the 
building occupied by the late McKenney Osbourn. A 
school was also taught on High Street by John Mc- 
Leod ; also, at another period of time, by Rev. William 



34 WHO FRAMED THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION. 

Allen. A ladies' school was also conducted by Miss 
Searle ; and a military academy by Captain Cobb, on 
Prospect Hill. We mention these places where the 
juveniles received the first rudiments of education, 
leaving to a future chapter a more extended notice of 
the institutions of learning. 

WHO FRAMED THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION. 

As a matter of some importance to the rising gen- 
eration to know who framed the original Constitution 
of our country, we transcribe from the tombstones at 
" Kalorama," as follows : " Abraham Baldwin, a Sen- 
ator in Congress from Georgia, died 4th March, 1807, 
aged 52 years. His devotion to his country his great- 
est fame, her constitution his greatest work." Abra- 
ham Baldwin was a member of the convention to 
draft the Constitution of the United States. After 
his death the original manuscript of the constitution 
was found among his papers. 

Joel Barlow, patriot, poet, and philosopher, died 
December 26, 1812, aged 57 years. Henry Baldwin, 
Judge of the Supreme Court, died April 21, 1844. 
Kuth Baldwin, his wife, died May 29, 1818, aged 62 
years. George Bomford, Colonel U. S. A., died May 
25, 1848, aged 66 years. Clara, wife of Colonel 
Bomford, died 10th December, 1855, aged 74 years. 
The remains of Commodore Decatur were subse- 
quently transferred to Philadelphia ; his widow, Mrs. 
Susan Decatur, resided for many years near George- 
town College. She died June 21st, 1860, aged about 
70 years, and was buried in the family lot of the 
Fenwick's, within the college grounds. 



WILLIAM WIRT. 35 

Any reader desiring to peruse a history of the Deca- 
tur duel, will refer to George Alfred Townsend's book, 
entitled "Washington Outside and Inside ; " he will 
there learn " how hard it is to be a duelist and live, 
and how hard it is to be a duelist and die." 

WILLIAM WIRT. 

We cannot refrain from mentioning that William 
Wirt, the author of the " British Spy," and Attorney 
General of the United States, for twelve years, under 
the administrations of Monroe and Adams, received 
the rudiments of his education in Georgetown. From 
his life I make the following extract : " In 1779 I 
was sent to Georgetown, eight miles from l^ladens- 
burg, to school — a classical academy kept by Mr. 
Rogers. I was placed at boarding with the family of 
Mr. Schoofield, a member of the Society of Friends. 
They occupied a small house of hewn logs at the east- 
ern end of Bridge Street. Friend Schoofield was a 
well-set, square-built, honest-faced, and honest-hearted 
man; his wife was one of the best of creation. A 
deep sadness fell upon me when I was left by the per- 
son who accompanied me to Georgetown — when I 
could no longer see a face that I knew, nor an object 
that was not strange. I remember the sense of total 
desertion and forlornness that seized upon my heart, 
unlike anything I felt in after years. I sobbed, as if 
my heart would break, for hours together, and was 
utterly inconsolable, notwithstanding the maternal 
tenderness with which good Mrs. Schoofield tried to 
comfort me. Almost half a century has rolled over 



36 WILLIAM WIRT. 

the incident, yet full well do I recollect with what 
gentle affection and touching sympathy she urged 
every topic that was calculated to console a child of 
my years. After quieting me, in some measure, by 
her caresses, she took down her bible and read to me 
the story of Joseph and his brethren. It is probable 
I had read it before, as such things are usually read 
without understanding it ; but she made me so compre- 
hend it, that, in the distress of Joseph and his father, 
I forgot my own. His separation from his family had 
brought him to great honor, and possibly mine, I 
thought, might be equally fortunate. I claim some 
sense of gratitude. I never forget an act of kind- 
ness, and never received one, that my heart has not 
impelled me to wish for some occasion to return it. 
So far as my experience goes, I am pursuaded, too, 
that doing an act of kindness, and still more repeated 
acts to the same individual, are as apt to attach the 
heart of the benefactor to the object, as that of the 
beneficiary to the person who does him the service. 
It was so in this instance. I went to see Mrs. Schoo- 
fielcl after I became a man, and a warmer meeting 
has seldom taken place between mother and son. 

" I passed one winter in Georgetown, and remember 
seeing a long line of wagons cross the river on the ice. 
I conjecture that it was the winter of 1779-'80, and 
that these wagons were attached to the troops which 
were going south. I remember, also, to have seen a 
gentleman, Mr. Peter, I think, going out gunning for 
canvass-backs — then called white-backs — which I have 
seen in those days whitening the Potomac, and which, 



LUDICROUS SCENES. 37 

when they arose, as they sometimes did, for half a 
mile together, produced a sound like thunder." 

I mention this, being struck with the different state 
of this game now on the Potomac. 

LUDICROUS SCENES. 

Some ludicrous scenes have taken place in our leg- 
islature. On the 26th of September, 1810, an ordi- 
nance was passed authorizing Richard ParrOtt to make 
a rope to survey the width of the Potomac River. The 
rope was made according to order, and on a day ap- 
pointed, the surveyor, with the fathers of the town and a 
number of citizens, assembled to span the vast Poto- 
mac. The rope was made fast on one side, and all hands 
got hold of the end on the other, and such a pulling 
rope never had before ; but, alas, for the onward pro- 
gress of human legislation, the whole town could not 
draw the rope into a straight line. The attraction of 
gravitation prevailing here, caused the rope to describe 
a curve in opposition to the surface of the earth ; it 
swagged into the water, got a ducking, and was then 
drawn ashore. Thus ended rope surveying. 

On the 24th of January, 1825, the corporation pass- 
ed an ordinance to purchase a steel triangle, which 
was swung in a steeple built upon the town house. 
This triangle was used to triangulate the town with 
its music every night at ten o'clock. It carried the 
sound of time through the town as fast as the magnetic 
wires carries news to Baltimore ; and when the town 
officer commenced triangulating, the darkies would 
move off' in parallel lines for home ; but sometimes 



38 DUELS. 

they would come in contact with a triangular watch- 
man who would ensconce them in the watch-house 
until day. The triangle lasted but a short time. On 
account of the laws of gravitation prevailing here and 
elsewhere, the treacherous cord by which it was swung 
gave way one night while the system of triangulation 
was in full blast, and the triangle leaped through 
the steeple on the roof of the house, and, bounding 
from thence to the ground, broke up into fragments. 
Thus ended triangulation. The old system of blow- 
ing tin horns at ten o'clock was re-established, and the 
watchmen were ordered to cry the hour to time the 
citizens through the darkness of the night. 

DUELS. 

It was about the year 1826, as well as the chroni- 
cler can remember, that the duel between John Ran- 
dolph and Henry Clay took place, one afternoon, on 
the banks of the Potomac, above the Fall's Bridge. 
Randolph was a man of talent, but nearly a madman. 
He vilified Clay, who was Secretary of State under 
John Q. Adams, by attacking him in the Senate — 
styling him a black-leg. On the word being given, 
Mr. Clay fired without effect. Mr. Randolph fired 
his pistol in the air. The moment Mr. Clay saw that 
Randolph had thrown away his fire, he instantly ap- 
proached Mr. Randolph, and said: "I trust in God, 
my dear sir, you are untouched. After what has oc- 
curred, I would not have harmed you for a thousand 
worlds." This was a bloodless duel, and, probably, for- 
tunate for our country it was so. Both were distin- 



DEPRESSION IN BUSINESS. 39 

guished men ; but the duel fought upon the same 
ground on the 16th of February, 1844, between Julian 
May, a citizen of Washington, and J. W. Cochrane, 
terminated fatally to one of the parties. They fought 
with rifles, and Cochrane fell at the first fire, shot 
through the head. In June, 1836, a duel was fought 
between two young men of the Navy- — Daniel Key, 
son of the late Francis S. Key, and J. H. Sherburne, 
both being midshipmen, in which Key was killed; 
and in February, 1838, Jonathan Cilley, of Maine, and 
W. T. Graves, of Kentucky, had a duel with rifles, 
in which Cilley was killed. This last duel caused Con- 
gress, on the 20th day of February, 1839, to enact a 
law against dueling. (See volume 5, statutes at large, 
page 318.) The author of "the Star Spangled Ban- 
ner" had another son killed on the 27th day of Feb- 
ruarys 1859, by Daniel E. Sickles. The chronicler 
mentions these events, as Philip Barton Key, Daniel 
Key, and Julian May were his school-mates. 

DEPRESSION IN BUSINESS AND BEGINNING OF THE CANAL. 

The business of our town began to languish ; houses 
ceased to be built ; and many of those that had been 
erected were without tenants. What was the cause 
of this was a question which presented itself to the in- 
quiring mind. Our merchants and mechanics were 
industrious and willing to work; but business was 
slack. This was due to the rapid growth of Washing- 
ton, whose citizens purchased the productions of the 
soil from the people of the surrounding counties, and 
who, in return, sold them goods on their way for home. 



40 BEGINNING OF THE CANAL. 

They passed through, our town without stopping to pur- 
chase. Affairs went on this way for many years, until 
Washington grew to be a large city; and by building 
towards our town her prosperity has diffused itself into 
our city, like a stick thrown into a pond of water, it 
makes a ripple until it reaches the shore. Both cities 
must now nourish, being in conjunction. The pros- 
perity of one is the prosperity of the other. 

To improve the trade of the town, a charter was ob- 
tained from the State of Virginia on the 24th of Sep- 
tember, 1824, assented to and confirmed by Congress 
on the 3d of March, 1825, and also by the State of 
Pennsylvania, to make and construct a canal from 
Georgetown to the Ohio River. Our citizens sub- 
scribed liberally to the stock, believing it would eventu- 
ally pay a dividend to the stockholders, some of them 
subscribing as high as five thousand dollars, and pay- 
ing all their installments. It was considered that the 
canal, if it did not pay directly on its completion, would 
indirectly pay by increasing the business of the town 
and increasing the value of property. On the passage 
of the charter by Congress, the citizens of the town 
were in high glee ; bon-fires illuminated the streets at 
night, and everybody thought that prosperity had 
come upon us. 

Friday, the 4th of July, 1828, was a gala day for 
Georgetown. The President of the United States, ac- 
companied by the heads of the departments, the Diplo- 
matic Corps, the president and directors of the Chesa- 
peake and Ohio Canal, and the corporate authorities 
of the three cities of the then District of Columbia, 



BEGINNING OF THE CANAL. 41 

assembled early in the morning at the Union Hotel, 
on Bridge Street, when a procession was formed and 
moved on to the excellent music of the Marine Band 
to High Street wharf, where they embarked on board 
the steamboat Surprise, and other boats, and coursed 
their way up the Potomac until they reached the ter- 
mination of the old Potomac Canal, where they landed 
and marched a few hundred yards to the canal-boats 
prepared to receive them. After being seated in these 
boats they glided along until they reached the point 
of destination, where the old powder magazine for- 
merly stood. On landing from the boats the proces- 
sion formed a large circle, in the centre of which was 
the spot for the commencement of the work. The 
president of the Canal Company addressed the Presi- 
dent of the United States in a brief speech. After 
he concluded, he handed to John Q. Adams the spade 
by which the sod was to be turned. The President, 
on receiving the implement, stepped forward and ad- 
dressed the multitude in an eloquent and able speech, 
from which I take the following extract : 

" Friends and fellow-laborers : We are informed by 
the Holy Oracle of truth, that at the creation of man, 
male and femare, the Lord of the Universe, their 
Maker, blessed them, and said unto them: 'Be fruit- 
ful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue 
it.' To subdue the earth was, therefore, one of the 
first duties assigned to man at his creation ; and now, 
in his fallen condition, it remains among the most ex- 
cellent of his occupations. To subdue the earth is 
pre-eminently the purposes of the undertaking, to the 



42 BEGINNING OF THE CANAL. 

accomplishment of which the first stroke of the spade 
is now to be struck. That it is to be struck, by this 
hand, I invite you to witness." 

Attending this action was an incident which pro- 
duced a greater sensation than any other event that 
occurred during the day. The President, in attempt- 
ing to run the spade into the ground, struck a root 
which prevented its penetrating the earth. He tried 
it a second time with no better success, when a wag 
in the crowd cried out that he had come across a 
"hickory root." Thus foiled, he threw down the 
spade and hastily stripped off his coat and went to work 
in earnest. The people around on the hills who could 
not hear, but could see and understand what was go- 
ing on, raised a loud cheering, which continued for some 
time after the President had overcome the difficulty. 
The excavation of the canal was immediately put 
under contract. During the excavation of the canal 
through the town, some accidents occurred : In un- 
dermining a heavy bank of earth between High and 
Congress Streets, it suddenly fell and destroyed the 
lives of two men. On the section between Market 
and Frederick Streets a sand blast was fired by a con- 
tractor, when large rocks were hurled through the air. 
One rock struck the dormer window in the house of 
Doctor Charles A. Beatty, on Water Street, and 
smashed it to pieces; another rock, weighing one 
thousand and forty-five pounds, struck a horse at the 
corner of Potomac and Water Streets, producing in- 
stant death. The indignation was so great against the 
contractor that he fled the town. The work progressed 



CHANNEL OF THE RIVER. 43 

so rapidly that, by the 4th of July, 1831, the water 
was let in from the first feeder to the Columbian 
Foundry. The number of locks on the canal are sev- 
enty-three ; being one hundred feet long, fifteen feet 
wide, with eight feet lift; are built of cut stone and 
laid in cement. The distance from our town to Cum- 
berland is one hundred and eighty-four miles, to which 
point the canal is finished. In subscribing to the 
stock of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, at one hund- 
red dollars per share, the United States subscribed to 
ten thousand, the city of Washington to ten thousand, 
Alexandria to twenty-five hundred, and Georgetown to 
twenty-five hundred shares, which, with private sub- 
scriptions, amounted to three million five hundred thou- 
sand dollars — at that time thought to be sufficient to 
complete the canal to Cumberland. "When the reader 
peruses the chapter on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, in 
this work, he will see that the estimate was far below the 
actual cost. The cities of the District employed Richard 
Rush to negotiate a loan of one million and five hun- 
dred thousand dollars on the credit of the citizens of 
Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown, to meet 
their subscription towards the work; which money 
was obtained in Holland, of the house of Messrs. Crom- 
melins at Amsterdam. 

CHANNEL OF THE RIVER, AND CONTEST FOR THE UPPER 

AND LOWER ROADS LEADING TO FALL'S BRIDGE. 

The channel of the river, below the town, began to 
fill up, so that a brig or large vessel, when loaded, 
could not pass down the river. As the town had paid 



44 CHANNEL OF THE RIVER. 

large sums of money into the Treasury of the United 
States, when a large importing and exporting business 
was done, Congress passed an act on the 2d of March, 
1833, appropriating one hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars — " to enable the town to remove obstructions 
to the navigation of the river, and for the further pur- 
pose of enabling the citizens to make a free turnpike 
road to the District line in Virginia, and to purchase 
the bridge .at the Little Falls of the Potomac River 
and declare the same free, and to keep the road and 
bridge in repair forever." 

The Corporation of Georgetown made a contract 
with E. and T. P. Ellicot, of Baltimore City, to deepen 
the channel below the town. They brought a power- 
ful dredging machine to accomplish their contract, and 
by the year 1835, they had excavated a cut through 
the bar, below the town, that gave a sufficient depth of 
water to float large ships. The cut made through the 
bar was four thousand feet in length by one hundred 
and forty feet wide, with a depth of fifteen feet at low 
tide, and nineteen feet at high tide. Before the exca- 
vation, the depth of water over the bar was from ten 
to twelve feet. 

The chronicler makes the following extracts from 
the report of the Commissioners appointed to super- 
vise the work on the channel : 

" Statement showing expenditures in excavating the 
channel through the bar below Georgetown — com- 
menced in 1833, and continued to December 31, 1835 : 

Expenses in the year 1833 : For prelimi- 
nary surveys $> 236 31 



CONTEST FOR THE ROADS. 4^ 

Estimate of excavations in 1834 : 38,570 

cubic yards, @ 30 cents 11,571 00 

Contingent expenses : Engineers' pay dur- 
ing the year 1834 816 04 

Estimate of excavation, per contract of 

1835: 10,068 cubic yards, @ 30 cents... 3,020 40 
Estimate of same work, being an angle of 

the bars : 4,815 cubic yards, @ 30 cents.. 1,444 50 
Estimate of excavation during residue of 

year 1835: 58,294 cubic yds. @ 30 cts. 17,488 20 
Contingent expenses, exclusive of pay of 

Engineers 680 50 



$35,256 95 

Leaving a balance yet due to the contractors, the 

Messrs. Ellicots, according to contract, as security for 

completion, $3,000. 

WALTER SMITH, 
January 26, 1836. JOHN KURTZ, 

WILLIAM LAIRD, 

Commissioners. 

Considerable discussion sprang up in our Boards of 
Aldermen and Common Council, whether all the 
money left from deepening the channel should not be 
applied to the making of two roads to the Fall's 
Bridge ; one by the side of the canal, and the other 
from the intersection of High and Seventh Streets, 
across the country to intersect the canal road. We 
had at this time a property qualification in electing 
the Mayor and members of the Corporation ; and the 
consequence was, we elected able men to the council 
that would have done honor to the floors of Congress : 
There was Thomas Corcoran, Francis Dodge, Samuel 



.ti THE HOLLAND LOAN. 

McKenney, and others, men of strong minds and able 
debaters. The question was debated for several weeks. 
Colonel Corcoran, being the advocate for the lower 
route, was overwhelming in his argument; and the 
question was finally decided in favor of the road by 
the side of the canal (on being submitted to a vote of 
the people) by a majority of five votes. On the 11th 
of March, 1833, the Corporation appropriated fifty 
thousand dollars to purchase all claim and right to the 
Fall's Bridge and the road leading to the same. 

The friends of the upper route were not dismayed 
by the decision of the people, and at the next elec- 
tion, held on the fourth Monday in February, 1834, 
they elected a majority of upper route men, and on 
the 21st of October, 1834, they passed a bill for mak- 
ing the upper road, and appropriated fifteen thousand 
dollars out of the Congress fund to construct the same ; 
but the cost of the road before completion was twenty- 
seven thousand dollars. 

THE HOLLAND LOAN, AND OPPOSITION TO THE 
ALEXANDRIA AQUEDUCT. 

On the 20th of May, 1836, Congress passed an act 
to relieve the cities of the District from the Holland 
loan, incurred by their subscription to the stock of the 
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. Washington City owed 
one million of dollars, Alexandria two hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars, and Georgetown the same 
amount as Alexandria, making one and a half mil- 
lions assumed and paid by the United States. 

In the same year (1836), while the Alexandria Aque- 



ANNEXATION. 47 

duct was being constructed, under a charter passed by 
Congress, dated 26th May, 1830, also, under a large 
donation of four hundred thousand dollars given by 
Congress to aid in the construction of the work, the 
corporate authorities of Georgetown undertook, by an 
injunction, to stop the further progress of the work. 
The case came on for a hearing before the Circuit 
Court of the District of Columbia, when the Court de- 
cided against the town on a demurrer to the bill. An 
appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of the United 
States ; that court held " that the plaintiffs, in their cor- 
porate capacity, could not maintain this suit in behalf 
of the citizens of Georgetown. It was not like the 
common case of the creditor's bill, where the persons 
bringing the suit by names have an interest in the sub- 
ject-matter which enables them to sue ; and the others 
are treated as a kind of co-plaintiffs with those named. 
The appellants have no authority to vindicate, in a 
court of justice, the rights of citizens of their town in 
the enjoyment of their property." (12 Peters, p. 91.) 
This was an unfortunate suit for the town. It gener- 
ated bad feeling between Alexandria and Georgetown, 
and when we went to Congress and asked for a free 
bridge by the side of the Aqueduct, Alexandria op- 
posed it, and we obtained nothing. 

BASIS OF AN AGREEMENT FOR THE CONSOLIDATION OF 
WASHINGTON CITY AND GEORGETOWN. 

In the year 1856, on the 17th and 24th of Septem- 
ber, and 15th and 17th of October, a committee from 
the town, appointed by the corporate authorities, met 



48 ANNEXATION. 

a committee of "Washington City at the City Hall, for 
the purpose of devising some plan to consolidate the 
two cities ; the following propositions were submitted 
and argued at length by the gentlemen on both sides. 
"1. Georgetown, as such, is no longer to have any 
separate existence as a corporation. All of its powers 
of legislation and distinct corporate action are to be 
surrendered. 

2. Georgetown is to form two wards of Washington 
City, to have a representation in the Councils of Wash- 
ington, as such, and to have the rights and incur the 
obligation of such. 

3. The people of Georgetown, in becoming citizens 
of Washington City, will assume their proportion of 
the debt of Washington, and submit to such revenue 
system and taxation as is or may be imposed upon the 
citizens of Washington City, for the purpose of pay- 
ing the principal and interest of said debt. 

4. The debt of Georgetown, funded and floating, is 
to be assumed by Washington. 

5. The property, real and personal, now owned by 
Georgetown, the debts owing to it, the stocks held by 
it, and assets of any and every kind belonging to it, 
are to vest absolutely in Washington City. 

6. The obligations incurred by Georgetown, so far 
as they bind it, and no further, are to be assumed by 
Washington. 

7. The present western or Virginia Channel of the 
Potomac is not to be altered or in any manner affected, 
except by the consent of the people resident in the 
aforesaid two new wards, or of a majority of their rep^ 



ANNEXATION. 49 

resentatives in each of the branches of the Corpora- 
tion of Washington. 

8. The people of Georgetown, in becoming citizens 
of Washington, will assume their just and fair propor- 
tion of all the obligations, past and future, incurred 
by Washington City. 

9. Georgetown and Washington City will unite in 
an effort to have any plan of union agreed upon car- 
ried out by appropriate legislation by Congress. 

10. Any plan agreed upon by the joint committee 
is to be submitted to the people of Washington City 
and Georgetown, respectively, for ratification, and shall 
only be effectual when ratified by both cities and con- 
firmed by Congress." 

All the propositions were agreed to except the sev- 
enth, to which the Washington committee objected ; 
but our committee held on to the seventh proposition, 
when, no agreement being accomplished, the meeting 
adjourned sine die. 

In the year 1838, on the 29th and 30th of January, 
and at other times, several meetings were held at the 
old Lancaster School room, on Beall Street, to consider 
and discuss the question of retrocession to Maryland 
of all that part of the District lying west of Rock 
Creek, including Georgetown. Samuel McKeimy ad- 
dressed the citizens in favor of the question in an able 
speech, that occupied two evenings in its delivery ; he 
was replied to by others, when it was agreed to sub- 
mit the question to a vote of the people. On an elec- 
tion being held in the town a majority of sixty-five 
votes was declared in favor of retrocession. Con- 



50 ANNEXATION. 

sequently, a committee was appointed to visit Annapo- 
lis and lay before the Legislature of Maryland a peti- 
tion of the citizens of Georgetown for annexation to 
the State of Maryland, which was favorably received 
and considered ; but the Congress of the United States 
took no action on the petition. In 1851, several meet- 
ings were held at Forrest Hall to discuss the ques- 
tion of retrocession. Able speeches were made for 
and against retrocession by Henry Addison, Samuel 
McKenny, and Eobert Ould and others, but no vote 
was submitted to the people, and the question rested. 
The chronicler at that time penned an allegory on the 
question of retrocession to Maryland, or annexation to 
Washington, published in the Georgetown Advocate, in 
1851, which we will now insert : 

"Is it best to marry widower Georgetown to Miss 
Maryland or to Lady Washington f 

Mr. Editor : It is proposed to marry Georgetown 
to Maryland, a buxom lady of seventy-five years of 
age, with a debt resting upon her shoulders of fifteen 
million dollars, running on interest at 6 per cent, per 
annum, making the interest for the first year nine hun- 
dred thousand dollars. Now we well know, according 
to the rules and laws of matrimony, that widower 
Georgetown must take Maryland with all her advan- 
tages and disadvantages, and if Maryland has not 
enough to pay her debts while single, the property of 
her husband, Georgetown, must be taken to pay her 
liabilities. Now, Lady Maryland has been accustomed 
to high life, and high living. She has given soirees 



ANNEXATION. 51 

and parties frequently at her palace at Annapolis, and 
invited the surrounding country and legislature to feast 
on champagne and oysters, while old Georgetown has 
been accustomed to live upon Potomac herrings and 
corn-bread, and by his economy has laid up a little 
property ; which he is now going to throw away upon 
his extravagant lady-love, Maryland. Why, Lady 
Maryland has been accustomed to move in a high and 
noble sphere. She has involved herself in debt by 
making railroads, on which she could take pleasant 
rides with her company and enjoy a season at Harper's 
Ferry, in beholding the surrounding scenery, the hills 
and valleys of Virginia, and the meanderings of the 
Potomac from the unbroken plains. She has luxuri- 
ated at Martinsburg, then at "Winchester, then next at 
Cumberland, where she settled down and built a pal- 
ace to feast the inhabitants of Alleghany. We next 
hear of her preparing for a departure from that city, 
with more than a dozen cars in her train, carrying her 
company, baggage, and boxes, with a snorting, fiery 
locomotive ready for the word, and when she takes her 
departure, we cannot tell where she will spend the next 
summer, whether upon the hills of Pittsburg, or slum- 
bering upon the banks of the Ohio, at Wheeling. ISTow, 
would it be well to marry widower Georgetown to such 
an extravagant lady as this ? The best we can do is 
to unite Georgetown to Washington. Lady Washing- 
ton is but little in debt compared to Miss Maryland, 
and she has an uncle, called ' Uncle Sam,' who is very 
liberal towards her. He owns large possessions ; he 
owns the Capitol and the departments, the Smithsonian 



52 ANNEXATION. 

Institute, large tracks of land in the West, and all 
California. He has a large revenue of fifty millions, 
out of which he generally gives two or three hundred 
thousand a year to his niece, as pin money, which en- 
ables her to adorn her person in fine attire, and beau- 
tify her city by making rough places smooth, and fill- 
ing up her valleys, and laying off her streets and ave- 
nues, lighting up the city with gas, and having a guard 
to attend her person. In fact, so kind is he towards 
his niece, that it is generally believed, when the old 
man dies, he will leave her all his property, and she 
will become the richest lady in the world. Now to 
his distant relative, Georgetown, he has occasionally 
given something to keep him from starvation. He 
once gave him one hundred and fifty thousand dollars 
to help to buy a bridge and make a road to the same, 
and on another occasion he went his security to the 
Dutch for one-fourth of a million, which he had to pay — 
both principal and interest ; and he has never given 
him anything since. Now, as old Georgetown is rather 
poor, and hard pushed for money to get along, would 
it not be well to marry him to Lady Washington so 
that he can share in her prosperity and wealth ? He 
would certainly have a life-estate in all her posses- 
sions, and would be entitled to receive the emblems 
and income of her vast property ; and if heirs should 
be born alive (of which I hope there will be a great 
many after the union), then Georgetown would, in case 
of the death of Lady Washington or the removal of 
the seat of Government, become tenant by the courtesy 
during his natural life. He would then be entitled to 



SKETCH OF ITS LEGISLATION. 53 

all the Capitol, the public buildings, and the innumer- 
able wealth of ' Uncle Sam.' Then we need not go 
to Washington for a walk, nor go there to laugh and 

talk, &c, &c." 

SKETCH OF ITS LEGISLATION. 

Our charter was our guide and strength. It gave 
us power to act and to do in all things relating to the 
welfare of the town. In an evil hour we were, like 
Sampson of old, lulled to sleep by a false Delilah, in 
the shape of a bill to create a form of Government for 
the District of Columbia, passed by Congress on the 
21st of February, 1871. Section 37 was as follows: 

" Sec. 37. That there shall be in the District of Co- 
lumbia a Board of Public Works, to consist of the 
governor, who shall be president of said board ; four 
persons to be appointed by the President of the United 
States, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen- 
ate, one of whom shall be a civil engineer, and the 
other a citizen and resident of the District, having the 
qualifications of an elector therein; one of said board 
shall be a citizen and resident of Georgetown, and 
one of said board shall be a citizen and resident of 
the county outside of the cities of Washington and 
Georgetown. They shall hold office for the term of 
four years, unless sooner removed by the President of 
the United States. The Board of Public Works shall 
have entire control of and make all regulations which 
they shall deem necessary for keeping in repair the 
streets, -avenues, alleys, and sewers of the city, and all 
other works which may be entrusted to their charge 



54 SKETCH OF ITS LEGISLATION. 

by the Legislative Assembly or Congress. They shall 
disburse, upon their warrant, all moneys appropriated 
by the United States, or the District of Columbia, or 
collected from property holders, in pursuance of law, 
for the improvement of streets, avenues, alleys, and 
sewers, and roads, and bridges, and shall assess in such 
manner as shall be prescribed by law upon the prop- 
erty adjoining, and to be specially benefitted by the 
improvements authorized by law and made by them, 
a reasonable proportion of the cost of the improve- 
ment, not exceeding one-third of such cost, which sum 
shall be collected as other taxes are collected. They 
shall make all necessary regulations respecting the con- 
struction of private buildings in the District of Colum- 
bia, subject to the supervision of the legislative as- 
sembly. All contracts made by the said Board of 
Public Works shall be in writing, and shall be signed 
by the parties making the same, and a copy thereof 
shall be filed in the office of the secretary of the Dis- 
trict ; and said Board of Public "Works shall have no 
power to make contracts to bind said District to the 
payment of any sums of money except in pursuance 
of appropriations made by law, and not until such ap- 
propriations shall have been made. All contracts 
made by said board in which any member of said 
board shall be personally interested shall be void, and 
no payment shall be made thereon b} 7 said District or 
any officers thereof. On or before the first Monday 
in November of each year, they shall submit to each 
branch of the legislative assembly a report of their 
transactions during the preceding year, and also fur- 



SKETCH OF ITS LEGISLATION. 55 

nish duplicates of the same to the governor, to be by 
him laid before the President of the United States for 
transmission to the two Houses of Congress ; and shall 
be paid the sum of two thousand live hundred dollars 
each annually." 

This section gave the Board of Public Works un- 
controllable power to dig down, till up, and change the 
grade of the streets wherever they thought best. The 
consequence was, the District of Columbia was, with- 
in three years, overwhelmed with a debt of twenty- 
two millions of dollars, of which Georgetown had to 
bear its share in the shape of heavy taxation, to pay 
the interest on said debt. 

The Board of Public Works entered the town to 
make what they called improvements, in altering and 
changing the grade of the streets, to the great detri- 
ment and injury of a large class of property holders. 
If ever a set of sensible men were guilty of a wrong, 
it was in filling up Bridge Street between High and 
Market Streets; also Market Space on the east and 
west side of the market house. They filled up at the 
head of the market house thirteen feet with earth, 
and at the foot twenty feet ; thus leaving the market 
house in a hollow, as well as the row of buildings on 
both sides of Market Space. The consequence was, 
the District of Columbia had to raise the buildings to 
the new grade of the street at a cost of one hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars ; and the cost of raising the 
market house and underpining the same was twenty- 
four thousand, nine hundred and eighty four dollars. 
(See the acts of legislature of June 25, 1873, page 1], 



56 SKETCH OF ITS LEGISLATION. 

of the statutes relating to the District of Columbia.) 
By thus filling up Market Space a most serious injury 
was done to the property holders. The grade of the 
streets was destroyed, and all communication was cut 
off from the canal and river — the south side of the 
canal being twenty feet below the foot of Market 
Space. Your chronicler has seen thousands of hogs- 
heads of tobacco, and barrels of flour, hauled to the 
river down Market Space, in days gone by, to the ves- 
sels at the wharves, to be shipped to Europe ; but all 
this communication is now cut off, and stores and 
dwellings which formerly sold, before the grade of the 
street was destroyed, from three to four thousand dol- 
lars, would not bring at the present time more than 
one-third of that amount. 

After the District of Columbia had been in exist- 
ence as a municipality a little over three years, under 
the act of 21st of February, 1871, Congress repealed 
the law, and passed an act on the 20th of June, 1874, 
establishing three commissioners to manage the affairs 
of the said District, to abolish all useless offices, and 
reduce the expenses of said District. 

The salaries of the officers in the employment of the 
said District, amounted to five hundred and forty 
thousand five hundred and ninety dollars per annum, 
as per report of the comptroller made to the legisla- 
ture on the 5th of May, 1873. (See journal of the 
House of Delegates, volume 5, page 65.) Such heavy 
salaries were sufficient to sink the District of Colum- 
bia into bankruptcy, if continued for a length of time. 
To get clear of this great expense, the commissioners 



OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION. 57 

consolidated some offices and abolished others, and re- 
duced the expenses of the District to an economical 
working condition. The salaries of the public school 
teachers being two hundred and ten thousand dollars, 
and the salaries of the officers employed in managing 
the business of the District, about ninety thousand 
dollars, making in the aggregate, three hundred thous- 
and dollars. 

[A bill has been introduced in Congress to form a 
government for the District, and if it should pass and 
become a law, while penning these chronicles, it will 
become a part of this book.] 

The great evil under which the District of Colum- 
bia suffers, is its enormous debt of twenty-two million 
dollars, the interest on which exceeds a million dollars 
per annum, which is nearly equal to two-thirds of the 
revenues of the District. Now, what is a million of 
dollars ? The chronicler will here give you a defi- 
nition of a million : Place a million of silver dollars 
on the floor of a room, and the chronicler will allow 
an accountant to count one hundred per minute, day 
and night, and at the end of a week he will have 
counted a million. 

OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION. 

Although our town was chartered in 1789 by the 
legislature of Maryland, from that year to the first day 
of June, 1871, it never had but two clerks : the late 
John Mountz w T as clerk from the passage of the char- 
ter until 1856, when he was superseded in office by the 
late William Laird, Esq. Mr. Mountz became dis- 



58 OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION. 

qualified for the active duties of clerk by advanced 
age, but was still retained by our ' corporate authori- 
ties as consulting clerk until the 1st of August, 1857, 
when he died at an advanced age — " An honest man 
the noblest work of God." 

Mr. Laird, his successor, had no superior as an ac- 
countant in this country. Being the son of an eminent 
merchant of our town, and qualified by a liberal educa- 
tion and long service in the counting-room, he fulfilled 
the expectations of the people. 

Now that our charter has passed away, and we have 
entered upon a municipal District government, the 
question is, Shall we be benefited by the change ? We 
are now, with "Washington, one town, one city, and 
one people. If our new government is strangled in its 
infancy with too much " pap," we shall perish ; other- 
wise we shall float upon the tide of prosperity, and the 
Genius of our commerce will again spread her white 
wings over every sea, until we shall become renowned 
throughout the habitable globe. 

On the fourth Monday in February, every two years, 
the citizens would elect a Mayor and five members of 
the Board of Aldermen to serve two years ; and on 
each and every year they would elect eleven members 
of the Board of Common Council, to serve one year. 
Prior to the amended charter of 1830, the Mayor 
was elected by the joint meeting of the two boards. 
•I will now mention those citizens who have served as 
Mayor and Recorder fi'om the time the charter was 
granted : 



OFFICERS OF THE TOWN". 59 



Robert Peter, Mayor from 1789 to 1798 ; Lloyd 
Beall,from 1798 to 1803 ; Daniel Rentzel, from 1803 
to 1805 ; Thomas Corcoran, from 1805 to 1806 ; Dan- 
iel Rentzel, from 1806 to 1808; Thomas Corcoran, 
from 1808 to 1811 ; David Wiley, from 1811 to 1812 ; 
Thomas Corcoran, from 1812 to 1813 ; John Peter, 
from 1813 to 1818 ; Thomas Corcoran, from 1818 to 
1819 ; Henry Foxall, from 1819 to 1821 ; John Peter, 
from 1821 to 1822 ; John Cox, from 1822 to 1845 ; 
Henry Addison, from 1845 to 1857 ; Richard R. Craw- 
ford, from 1857 to 1859 ; Henry Addison, from 1859 
to 1867; Charles D. Welch, from 1867 to 1869; 
Henry M. Sweeny, from 1869 to 1871. 

All the other officers of the corporation were elected 
by the joint meeting of the two boards every year, on 
the first Monday in January. 

RECORDERS. 

John Mackall Gantt, from 1789 to 1809 ; James S. 
Morsell, from 1809 to 1813 ; Francis Scott Key, 1813 
to 1816 ; John Wiley, from 1816 to 1819 ; James 
Dunlop, from 1819 to 1839 ; Clement Cox, from 1839 
to 1847; Robert Ould, from 1847 to 1851, also from 
1853 to 1859 ; Walter Cox, from 1851 to 1853 ; Hugh 
Caperton, from 1859 to 1861 ; Walter Cox, from 1861 
to 1866 ; Charles M. Matthews, from 1866 to 1868 ; 
Charles A. Peck, from 1868 to 1869 ; Hugh Caperton, 
from 1869 to 1870 ; Charles A. Peck, from 1870 to 
1871. 



60 NAMES OF THE STREETS. 

There are in the town thirteen streets running east 
and west, also thirteen streets running north and south. 
Some of these streets had various names for certain 
distances ; but to have nniformity in the names of all 
the streets, our town authorities enacted an ordinance 
on the 13th April, 1818, that the following alteration 
be made in the names of certain streets in George- 
town, to wit: Water Street and High Street; High 
Street continued and Commerce Street shall be hence- 
forth called and known by the name of High Street. 
The streets known by the name of West Landing, 
Keys, Causeway Street, and that part of Wapping in a 
line therewith, shall be henceforth called and known by 
the name of Water Street. The- street known by the 
name of Back Street, in Bean's addition to George- 
town, running parallel with Beall Street, shall be 
henceforth called and known by the name of Stoddard 
Street. The streets known by the name of Duck Lane 
and West Lane shall be henceforth called and known 
by the name of Market Street. Cherry Street, com- 
mencing at the street at present known by the name 
of Keys, and running northerly, including Market 
Space to Potomac Street, shall be henceforth called 
and known by the name of Potomac Street. The street 
known by the name of Gay Street shall be henceforth 
called and known by the name of Lingan Street. The 
street known by the name of Bridge Street and Fall's 
Street shall be henceforth called and known by the 
name of Bridge Street. The street known by the name 
of New Street and Mill Street shall be henceforth 
known bv the name of Monroe Street. That West 



ILLUMINATING THE TOWN. 61 

Street, in Beatty and Hawkin's addition to George- 
town, be called Madison Street. The street known by 
the name of Fishing Lane and Congress Street be 
known by the name of Congress Street. 

ILLUMINATING THE TOWN. 

On the 6th of September 1810, the corporate au- 
thorities passed an ordinance for the erection of lamp 
posts and lamps at the corners of the various streets 
in the town, to give pedestrians an opportunity to find 
their way to and from church on a dark night. These 
lamps were trimmed with oil purchased from the yan- 
kee vessels, which traded with our town, loaded with 
onions, potatoes, and oil. These lamps lasted for 
many years, until the posts, from advanced age, be- 
gan to topple over, and were never replaced until their 
number were reduced to four — located at the corners 
above the market. These stood perpendicular for a 
number of years, when, by an unfortunate accident 
their number was again reduced: A team ran off" 
with a wagon, and its wheel striking one of the posts, 
shivered it into fragments ; of course, the lamp shared 
the same fate. There was then but three lamps left, 
which cast a triangular light at each other, making 
darkness visible in the distance. Under this state of 
affairs, our citizens began to complain for more light, 
when, on the 20th day of July, 1854, Congress granted 
a charter, creating a gas company, by which it was en- 
acted, that, David English, Robert P. Dodge, Richard 
Cruikshank, Wm. M. Fitzhugh, Richard Pettit, W. F. 
Seymour, Adolpheus H. Pickrell, and Wm. Bucknell, 



62 ANTS FROM THE WEST INDIES. 

are hereby declared to be a body corporate by the name 
and style of "Georgetown Gas Light Company." 
Our corporation responded to the gas company by 
passing an ordinance, on the 6th of June, 1853, allow- 
ing the gas company to lay pipes through the streets of 
the town (and the corporation at the same time erect- 
ing gas posts), to illuminate the streets. Our citizens 
introduced gas into their stores and dwellings, as a 
substitute for candles (which were manufactured at 
O'Ponnoghue's Soap & Candle Factory, situated in the 
west end of the town.) In those days, when tallow 
dips were used, we had candle-sticks made of brass or 
tin, and occasionally of a block of wood, and when a 
candle burnt down considerably below the wick, it 
required snuffing, to give a brighter light, when the 
thumb and finger were brought into operation to de- 
capitate the luminary at the expense of smutting one's 
fingers. 

ANTS FROM THE WEST INDIES. 

John Laird & Son, tobacco merchants of our town, 
who shipped large quantities of tobacco every year to 
Europe, in brigs or barks, had ordered to Georgetown 
some vessels in ballast, to be loaded with tobacco. 
The vessels came and threw out their ballast on the 
wharves at the foot of Frederick Street. This ballast 
contained a large number of ants, taken on board in 
the West Indies, and being cast into town in the 
summer season, they multiplied by thousands and 
millions, and entered into every store and dwelling, 
as they multiplied and marched onward due north. 



A BREEZE IN TOWN. 63 

Never having gone east of Potomac Street, they in- 
fested the walls of buildings, and concealed themselves 
in the cracks and openings. The chronicler has many 
times struck with a stone a brick or stone wall, when 
thousands would come to the surface and run in every 
direction. Their bite or sting was painful ; and such 
a nuisance had they become to the property of the citi- 
zens (depreciating it in value), that our corporation 
offered a reward for their destruction by paying one 
dollar per quart for all dead ants brought to the office. 
After paying out several hundred dollars, the cold 
winter of 1840-'41 set in, which completely destroyed 
them. 

A BREEZE IN TOWN. 

One Sunday morning, in April, 1848, quite a com- 
motion was raised in the town by a number of citi- 
zens, who had given out, on the Saturday evening pre- 
vious, a supply of provisions to be cooked next morn- 
ing for breakfast. One expected muffins ; the second, 
warm rolls ; and the third, buckwheat cakes and fried 
chicken. ISTo breakfast being ready, the ladies of the 
house went to see what could the matter be, when, lo 
and behold, there was no " Polly to put the kettle on." 
The fires were out, and the kitchens were dark and 
cold. The servants had absconded, and where had 
they gone, was the inquiry. It was discovered that a 
schooner, named the Pearl, had a few days before un- 
loaded her cargo of wood, and sailed away in the night, 
and was supposed to have carried off all the runa- 
way slaves. Immediately the steamer Salem was char- 



64 THE LONG BRIDGE. 

tered, and many of our citizens volunteered their ser- 
vices, being armed and equipped according to law, and 
started in pursuit of the missing vessel. After steam- 
ing down the Potomac for a day and a night, they came 
upon the Pearl in Cornfield Harbor, near the mouth 
of the river. They immediately boarded the schooner, 
fastened down the hatches, and secured the captain 
and the few hands who sailed the vessel ; they then 
lashed the schooner to the steamer and headed for 
Georgetown, where they arrived in the latter part of 
the week. Captain Edward Sayes and Daniel Dray- 
ton, of the schooner Pearl, were committed to jail, 
and at the June Term of the Criminal Court they were 
convicted and sentenced: Drayton to pay seventy- 
three times one hundred and forty dollars; and Cap- 
tain Sayes, seventy-three times one hundred dollars, 
and to stand committed until paid. They were after- 
wards pardoned, August 12th, 1852. The number of 
slaves carried off were seventy-seven; consisting of 
thirty-eight men, twenty-six women, and thirteen 
children. 

LONG BRIDGE. 

There has been, almost from time immemorial, a 
great opposition, by the citizens of Georgetown, to 
the construction of the Long Bridge. They regarded 
the bridge as injurious to the channel of the river, 
and a great detriment to the commerce of the town. 
"When the bridge question was agitated in Congress, 
as far back as 1807, our corporate authorities, by an act 
of the Corporation, passed January 6th, 1807, employ- 



THE LONG BRIDGE. 65 

ed Charles Evans, a celebrated stenographer (at ten 
dollars per day), to report the debates on the bridge 
question. Our corporate authorities did their best to 
prevent the passage of the bill chartering the Poto- 
mac Bridge Company, which was incorporated Feb- 
ruary 5th, 1808; the charter to last for sixty years. 
What the town could not do, the Potomac Kiver did 
for us. The freshet of 1829 broke the bridge asunder 
in many places, and the company, being unable to re- 
pair the same, sold all their right and title to the 
United States for twenty thousand dollars, by act of 
Congress passed July 14, 1832 ; and by a subsequent 
act approved March 2d, 1833, the sum of two hund- 
red thousand dollars was appropriated by Congress to 
erect a new bridge. Our town desired that a new 
bridge should be erected above the town at the Three 
Sisters, but "Washington opposed it, on the ground 
that the distance from the City Post Office, through 
Georgetown to Alexandria, crossing the river at the 
Three Sisters, is ten and one-half miles; while the 
distance between the same points, crossing the river 
by the Long Bridge, is only five and three-quarter 
miles. 

It is to be presumed, that by the acts of Congress of 
July 14th 1832, and March 2d, 1833, the final settle- 
ment of the question, as to the permancy or removal 
of the Long Bridge was settled. After the passage 
of the above acts, the corporate authorities of George- 
town presented a memorial to Congress, praying an 
appropriation for removing obstructions in the river, 
and making free the road to the bridge over the Lit- 



66 THE LONG BRIDGE. 

tie Falls. In this memorial document (No. 32, H. 
R., 22d Congress, 2d Session) they say: "Without, 
at all, complaining that Congress has appropriated 
money to erect a new bridge and make it free of tolls 
— for since it is considered necessary that a bridge 
must be erected there, at the sight of the Long Bridge, 
no doubt, it ought to be free of tolls — your memorial- 
ists must, nevertheless, take leave, respectfully, to in- 
vite the attention of your honorable body to the fact, 
that a free bridge must unavoidably deprive them of 
the remaining trade with the neighboring counties of 
Virginia, unless corresponding facilities are afforded 
for reaching Georgetown ; since none will choose to 
pay a toll to cross the river when it can be crossed 
free of toll. They ask for the sum of one hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars for the objects set forth in 
the memorial, viz : To improve the navigation of 
the Potomac River between Georgetown and Alexan- 
dria, and making free the bridge over the Little Falls 
and the road leading to it." The appropriations, re- 
lating to the Long Bridge and Falls Bridge, were 
passed, and all controversy about the location of the 
bridges was considered settled. 

This memorial, presented by the citizens of George- 
town, to Congress, was backed by an argument upon 
the facts and questions of law in the case, and signed 
by the late John Cox, Mayor of Georgetown. It 
is presumed that this able paper was written by the 
late Clement Cox, who was at that time, one of the 
most distinguished members of the Washington Bar. 

The bridge, as erected by the United States, was 



THE LONG BRIDGE. 67 

thrown open for travel in the month of October, 1835, 
when the President of the United States with his Cab- 
inet crossed it on foot, and returned in carriages. 
The bridge, as then constructed, had a drawer over 
the Virginia Channel, sixty-six feet wide, and over the 
Washington Channel, thirty-five feet; and was sub- 
stantially the same as that which now exists — that is, 
the solid causeway occupies about one third of the 
bridge; the rest of the bridge being built of wood 
resting on piles. For some years the bridge escaped 
without any damage, but, in 1840, a portion of it was 
destroyed by an ice freshet. Without exact date, it is 
impossible to enumerate the . different occasions in 
which it has been injured. It was injured by the 
freshets in 1856, 1860, 1863, and 1867 ; in several in- 
stances, spans of the . bridge were carried away and 
travel suspended for several months at a time ; but 
Congress has always been liberal in making appropria- 
tions to repair damages. The bridge is something 
that Georgetown has always thrown a " brick " at, and 
at every session of Congress a committee was generally 
appointed to attend to the interests of the town before 
Congress, and represent their grievances — the bridge 
always receiving due consideration ; but, as we are 
now under one form of government, and almost one 
town, one city, and one people, we may harmonize 
better in the future, when liberal appropriations shall 
be made by Congress for all parts of the District 



POPULATION. 

The population of Georgetown was — 
n 1800, two thousand nine hundred and ninety-three 
n 1810, four thousand nine hundred and forty-eight 
n 1820, seven thousand three hundred and sixty 
n 1830, eight thousand four hundred and forty-one 
n 1840, seven thousand three hundred and twelve 
n 1850, eight thousand three hundred and sixty-six 
n 1860, eight thousand seven hundred and thirty- 
three; in 1870, eleven thousand three hundred and 
eighty-four; in 1878, eleven thousand five hundred 
and seventy-one. 

This last census was taken by the officials of the 
District of Columbia. 




CHAPTER n. 

Potomac River — Ice-Floes — The Causeway — Freshets — Cold 
Winters — Seventeen-Year Locusts. 

The Potomac River, which has its rise in two 
branches, north and south, in the Alleghany Moun- 
tains, is a noble river. In its course towards the 
ocean, it is joined by several minor streams, the long- 
est of which is the Shenandoah, which rises in Au- 
gusta County, Virginia, and flows two hundred and 
fifty miles before it unites with the Potomac at Har- 
per's Ferry, where the latter bursts through the Blue 
Ridge Mountains, affording a sublime and interesting 
spectacle to the admirers of nature. In its descent to 
the Chesapeake Bay, it forms the greater part of the 
boundary line between Maryland and Virginia, and 
waters the District of Columbia two hundred and fifty 
miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The termination of 
its tide-water is three miles above Georgetown, where 
the tide rises about four feet. Mr. Jefferson, in his 
" Notes on Virginia," gives a graphic description of the 
scenery at Harper's Ferry. He says : 

" The passage of the Potomac River through the 
Blue Ridge, is, perhaps, one of the most stupendous 
scenes in nature. You stand on a very high point of 
land. On your right, comes up the Shenandoah, hav- 
ing ranged along the foot of the mountain a hundred 
miles to seek a vent. On your left, approaches the 



70 POTOMAC RIVER. 

Potomac in inquest of a passage, also. In the mo- 
ment of their junction, they rush together against the 
mountain, rend it asunder, and pass off to the sea. 
The first glance of this scene hurries our senses into the 
opinion, that this earth has been created in time ; that 
the mountains were formed first; that the river be- 
gan to flow afterwards ; that in this place, particularly, 
they have been darned up by the Blue Ridge Moun- 
tains, and have formed an ocean which filled the whole 
valley ; that continuing to rise, they have at length 
broken over at this spot, and have torn the mountain 
down from its summit to its base. The piles of rocks 
on each hand, but, particularly on the Shenandoah — 
the evident marks of their disrupture and avulsion 
from their beds by the most powerful agents of na- 
ture — corroborates the impression ; but the distant 
finishing which nature has given to the picture is of a 
very different character. It is a true contrast to the 
foreground. It is as placid and delightful, as that is 
wild and tremendous. For the mountain, being 
cloven asunder, she presents to your eye through the 
cleff, a small catch of smooth blue horizon at an infi- 
nite distance in the plain country, inviting you, as it 
were, from the riot and tumult roaring around, to pass 
through the breach and participate in the calm below. 
Here the eye ultimately composes itself, and that way 
to the road happens actually to lead. 

"You can cross the Potomac above the junction, 
pass along its side through the base of the mountain. 
For three miles its terrible precipices are hanging in 
fragments over you, and, within about twenty miles 



ICE-ELOES. 71 

reach Frederick Town and the fine country around 
that. This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlan- 
tic to view it ; yet, here, as in the neighborhood of the 
Natural Bridge, are people who have passed their 
lives within a half-dozen miles of it, and have never 
been to survey these monuments of a war between 
rivers and mountains, which must have shaken the 
earth itself to its centre." 

ICE-FLOES. 

The chronicler of these events occasionally spent 
some hours at the Arlington Springs, in conversation 
with G. W. P. Custis, the proprietor of Arlington, 
whose mind was replete with revolutionary history, 
and the events of the times that tried men's souls. 
On several occasions he related a description of an ice 
freshet that took place after the revolutionary war. 
Said he : 

"The ice, in the memorable year of 1784, moved 
twice : It first decended in vast quantities from the 
upper Potomac, till it reached the Three Sisters, where 
it stopped and accumulated in great masses and froze 
together again ; then came the deep snow, followed by 
a general thaw and violent rains. The second move- 
ment carried all before it. The shoving off of a 
strongly built stone house or stable from the bank, of 
where now is your town, is a well remembered story 
of the past. Both branches of the river around An- 
alostan Island were open in those days ; the eastern 
branch being used as the ship channel. The freshet 
of 1784 tore open the western branch, and formed in 



72 THE CAUSEWAY. 

the one freshet, a channel way that would have ad- 
mitted the passage of an Indiaman to Georgetown, 
being from twenty-seven to thirty-feet depth up to the 
wharves of the town. 

THE CAUSEWAY. 

" This channel was in all its usefulness when I came 
to live in your vicinity in 1802, and would have been 
a ship channel for the largest shipping up to this time, 
but for the unfortunate erection of the unfortunate 
causeway, which, while doing good to none, has done 
infinite harm to every one. It has rendered its vicin- 
ity unhealthy, in an eminent degree, and will, until its 
removal, render the island (that must soon be occu- 
pied as a commercial part of Georgetown) uninhabita- 
ble. By blocking up one-half or more of the vent for 
the passage of the water, the whole force of the river 
is now thrown upon the wharves and warehouses of 
Georgetown. Again, it would require but one-half of 
such a freshet as 1784, to do as much mischief as that 
memorable freshet did ; for while one-half of the pass- 
age way for the waters of 1784, is now filled up, the 
river at Georgetown is but one-half as deep, being 
thirty feet from shore to shore fifty years ago, is now 
not over fifteen feet, and a vast accumulation of mud 
next to the causeway. What shall we do ? I answer, 
knock away that nuisance to every one, the causeway, 
and take the chances. What happened in 1784, may 
happen again in 1852, and a single freshet make a 
channel-way to Georgetown, that may carry an India- 
man to her wharves. Five years ago (1836), you had a 



THE CAUSEWAY. 73 

pretty fair sample of a freshet without ice, in the navi- 
gation of your lower streets by boats. Had the river 
at that time been encumbered with icebergs, all the 
wharves and warehouses of Georgetown would have 
been an affair for history, for not a wreck would have 
been left behind. 

" The western channel is intended by nature to be 
the principal channel to the town, for it is the nearest 
and most direct, and water chooses the nearest and 
most direct route always. In 1784 the Potomac had 
her choice, and she chose the western channel. It is 
a melancholy reflection that, from circumstances be- 
yond the control of her citizens, Georgetown is des- 
tined, in a limited number of years, to have no har- 
bor at all. The same causes produce the same effect 
all the world over. From each pier of the Aqueduct, 
there will extend a tongue of land, made by the allu- 
vial deposits of the river, which will unite in the har- 
bor and fill it up. 

" The engineers have pronounced it practicable to 
make an artificial channel through the present bar be- 
low the island, only by a heavy expense in works of 
art. Perhaps old Potomac may take the engineering 
into her own hands, and give a channel, as she did in 
1784, after a manner speedily, efficient, and entirely 
her own. 

" With the rapidly increasing commerce of the 
canal, it behooves you of Georgetown to look out for 
more commercial room by annexation of Analostan 
Island ; but, if the causeway is to form part of the 
new annexation, rely upon it that the population of 

10 



74 FRESHETS. 

the new Territory will require a pretty smart sprink- 
ling of doctors, apothecaries, nurses, and grave dig- 
gers, who will be in full employment from the 1st of 
June to the 1st of December." 

ERESHETS. 

We have had many freshets in the Potomac. The 
great freshet of June, 1836, over-flowed the wharves 
and cellars along the line of Water Street, and did 
great damage to the canal. The freshets of April and 
September, 1843, were equally as destructive. So was 
the freshet of October, 1847, when the banks of the 
canal were rent asunder, and navigation suspended 
until the spring of 1848. The freshet of April, 1852, 
was very destructive; navigation was suspended on 
the canal all summer, and it cost the company several 
hundred thousand dollars to repair damages. The 
water in the river was so high that it ran over the 
causeway, which joins Analostan Island with the 
main-land, and washed away the stone wall, and made 
a new channel for the river, which damage cost the 
town several thousand dollars to repair. We have 
had, since, a number of freshets in the Potomac during 
the years 1856, 1860, 1863, 1866, and 1867, but none 
of them doing much damage. The freshet of October 
1st, 1870, was very destructive ; carrying away more 
than one-half of the Chain Bridge, and washing away 
the causeway and south draw of the Long Bridge. 
The canal was greatly damaged, several lock-gates 
were seen floating down the river, and navigation sus- 
pended for several weeks, which cost the company be- 



COLD WINTERS. 75 

tween eighty and one hundred thousand dollars to re- 
pair the injury. The freshet of 24th, 25th, and 26th 
of November, 1877, was higher than either of the 
freshets of 1847, 1852, or 1870, doing serious injury 
to the banks of the canal, which cost the company 
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to repair, and 
again washing away the stone causeway, which joins 
Analostan Island with the main-land, giving a chance 
to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to 
repair the damage. 

COLD WINTERS. 

The severity of the winter of 1780, or '84, is de- 
scribed by Jefferson in his " Notes on Virginia." He 
says : " That the winter was so cold, that the Chesa- 
peake Bay was frozen from its head to the mouth of 
the Potomac River, and at Annapolis, where the bay 
is five miles wide, the ice was five inches thick." 

The winter of 1827, was of remarkable severity in 
this latitude. Alexandria was nearly burnt down on 
the 18th day of January of that year, and many citi- 
zens of our town skated on the ice to Alexandria, and 
assisted in extinguishing the conflagration. The win- 
ter of 1829-'30, was very cold, and the ice broke up 
with a freshet, carrying away the schooner Washing- 
ton from Crittenden's wharf, where she had been made 
fast with numerous cables, which were rent like pipe 
stems, and the vessel carried down the river until she 
grounded on Easby's Point. At the same time the 
Long Bridge was shattered to pieces by the ice, four- 
teen gaps being made by the force of the freshet. 



1/ 



76 COLD WINTERS. 

Congress then purchased the remnant of the bridge 
of the Potomac Bridge Company for twenty-thousand 
dollars, and afterwards erected the present structure. 
The winter of 1831-'32, was very long and extremely 
cold. The chronicler was, at that time, a scholar at 
Professor Hallowell's school, located in Alexandria, 
and well remembers the severe coldness of the 
weather. The cold weather commenced in Novem- 
ber, 1831 ; the Potomac River was soon ice-bound, 
and the boys enjoyed fine skating. On coming home 
to spend the Christmas Holidays, we crossed the river 
at the Ferry near the Aqueduct, and saw on the ice, 
at the time, a wagon loaded with wood, being drawn 
by four horses. The mercury (in the Thermometer 
situated constantly in the shade on the west side of our 
dwelling), indicated four degrees below zero. In the 
first part of January, 1832, we had a thaw, and the 
ice passed quietly away ; but in the latter part of the 
month the weather again turned suddenly cold, and 
the Potomac was frozen over. On the 28th of Janu- 
ary, of that winter, after two nights freeze, I at- 
tempted to come home by way of the Long Bridge. 
On arriving at the bridge, I found no track broken 
for the Ferry Boat, and to cross on the ice was con- 
sidered impossible, as the river is more than a mile 
wide. Having my skates with me, and not liking to 
turn back, I put them on, and taking the branch of 
a tree in my hands, I crossed over in safety, to the sat- 
isfaction of the crowd who stood looking on at my 
fool-hardy venture. As I skated on the ice, it was so 
thin that it would crack and bend under my light 



COLD WINTERS. 77 

weight, and I could distinctly see the leaves and twigs 
floating in the water under my feet. Having arrived 
on the Washington shore, I felt so well satisfied, that 
I would not have returned for the fortune of Stephen 
Girard. The winter of 1835, was the coldest ever ex- 
perienced in this latitude. We had some weeks a 
thaw, and then the weather would turn extremely 
cold. The mercury indicated in January, sixteen de- 
grees below zero. We had three severe cold spells of 
weather during that year ; one of which was in March. 
On the 3d of that month I skated on the Potomac, 
playing "Bandy" and " Prisoner's Base." The winter 
of 1839-'"40, was long and cold. The ice broke up in 
the Potomac on the 10th of February, 1840 ; and car- 
ried away the Chain Bridge, and the draw of the Long 
Bridge. The winter of 1840-'41, was long and cold; 
though the degree of cold was not as great as some 
previous winters. The 12th of February, 1841, was 
the coldest day during the season, and it is well re- 
membered by the inhabitants of this town as the day 
that General Harrison paid Georgetown a visit just 
before his inauguration as President of the United 
States. We all remember the winters of 1855, 1856, 
and 1857; the snows were deep, and the cold was 
severe. During the winter of 1857, sleighing was 
enjoyed by our inhabitants. Fleet horses were brought 
on from other cities to race on Pennsylvania Avenue, 
and when the drivers would be arrested for driving at 
an improper speed, they would pay the fine, crack 
the whip over the head of justice and go it again. 
This was the winter that a locomotive was run on the 



78 SEVENTEEN-YEAR LOCUSTS. 

ice across the river, from Maryland to Alexandria ; 
also, sleepers and rails were laid upon the ice at Haver 
de Grace, across the Susquehanna Biver, and trains 
of cars crossed over for more than a month. 

There is a law of nature, that one extreme is fol- 
lowed by another. The extreme hot summer of 1834, 
was followed by the cold winter of 1835 ; and the 
centennial year of 1876, was very warm ; the heat set 
in about the 20th of June, and never broke until the 
13th of July, when we had a few pleasant days, when 
the heat set in again and lasted until the 1st of Sep- 
tember. The winter of 1876-77, was severe. The 
extreme cold set in on Saturday, the 9th of December, 
and continued to the 13th of January, when we had a 
thaw. 

SEVENTEEN-YEAR, LOCUSTS. 

I heard a citizen remark at one time, that every 
locust-year was followed by a cold winter. This re- 
mark will hold true, though no philosophical reason 
can be assigned for it. On examining some old 
registers in manuscript, I found that the locusts ap- 
peared in 1800, and was followed by an extreme 
cold winter; then again in 1816, and another cold 
winter. I well remember their appearance in the 
summer of 1834, which was followed by the severe 
winter of 1835, as above stated; they again appeared 
in the summer of 1851, and the winter of 1852, was 
one which young and old will long remember. In 
1867, they again, made their appearance, which was 
followed by the cold winter of 1868. There may be 



SEVENTEEN-YEAR LOCUSTS. 



79 



something providential in all this, which the obtuse 
intellect of man may not be able to fathom ; that 
swarms of locusts should come out of the ground once 
every seventeen years, spreading destruction among 
the trees and shrubbery, deposit their eggs, then tum- 
ble into naught, and their departure followed by an 
extreme cold winter, which may cause the eggs to re- 
main in a torpid state, for seventeen years, before the 
locust is produced again. 




11 



CHAPTER III. 

Potomac Canal — Falls Bridge — Military Companies — Con- 
tested Elections — Banks in Georgetown. 

These chronicles would be imperfect if they did not 
contain a brief description of the Potomac Canal, char- 
tered by the Legislature of Maryland in 1784. This 
canal runs around the principal falls of the Potomac 
River. At the Great Falls, where the difference of 
level is seventy-six fe6t nine inches, it was surmounted 
by five locks of solid masonry of stone ; each one hund- 
red feet in length, of various widths of from ten to 
fourteen feet, with a lift of from ten to eighteen feet; 
also, guard locks, and entensive basin — a canal twelve 
hundred yards in length lined with stone. The two 
lower locks were excavated entirely from the solid 
rock, and exhibited an imperishable monument of per* 
severance and skill. At the Little Falls, the differ- 
ence of level is thirty-seven feet, and was surmounted 
by four locks of solid masonry of stone, of the dimen- 
sions of eighty feet in length, and twelve feet wide, 
and by a canal two-and-a-half miles long ; on the mar- 
gin of which were found inexhaustible supplies of val- 
uable stone for building purposes. The canal, at both 
the Great and Little Falls, was excavated of the fol- 
lowing dimensions: Twenty-five feet wide at the sur- 
face, twenty feet wide at the bottom, and four feet 
deep. Gondolas and small canal boats only navi-r 



FALLS BRIDGE. 81 

gated this canal. In 1825, an assignment of all the 
right, title, claim, and franchise, of the Potomac Canal 
Company, was made to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal 
Company, and being vested with all the privileges of 
the Potomac Canal, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal 
Company made the bed of the Potomac Canal as a 
part of its own structure ; which surrender is recorded 
in liber "W. B., No. 33, page 58. The boats that navi- 
gated the old Potomac Canal, only carried from eighty 
to one hundred barrels of flour ; the boats now navi- 
gating the present canal, will carry from one thousand 
to twelve hundred barrels of flour or one hundred 
and twenty tons of coal. 

FALLS BRIDGE. 

Falls Bridge is located at the Little Falls of the 
Potomac River, three miles above town. From a 
carefully prepared profile drawing in the office of Col- 
onel Theodore B. Samo, the channel at this point is 
shown to be very deep, the bottom rocky and uneven, 
the current swift and running close to the Virginia 
shore. The long stretch of rock flats, nearly five 
hundred yards in width, between this channel and the 
canal on the District side, is seldom covered with 
water, except in times of freshets. Immediately be- 
low the Little Falls the depth of water is 'over eighty 
feet, and continues very deep until the Aqueduct is 
reached. 

In order to understand how the Falls Bridge was 
originally built, it will be requisite to refer to the Leg- 
islature of Maryland. The Legislature of Maryland, 



82 FALLS BRIDGE. 

by an act of 1791, chapter 81, incorporated the George- 
town Bridge Company, for the purpose of erecting a 
toll bridge at the Little Falls of the Potomac River; 
and subsequently, by an act of 1795, chapter 44, on 
petition of that company, authorized them to construct 
a road from the bridge to Georgetown ; which said 
road was declared to be " a public highway forever, 
and kept in repair by said company." Afterwards, 
upon the destruction of the bridge in February, 1811, 
Congress authorized the company to make a new as- 
sessment upon its stockholders to rebuild the bridge 
and keep the same in repair, together with the road 
leading thereto from Georgetown. The bridge and 
road were constructed by the same company, chargea- 
ble upon and to be kept in repair by the same com- 
pany, for the use of the public. It was under this 
state of circumstances, that Congress, in pursuance of 
its general policy to make the road and bridges lead- 
ing to and through the District of Columbia free to 
all, passed the act of 1833, chapter 66, appropriating 
a sum of money, to enable the Corporation of George- 
town, among other things, to make a free turnpike road 
to the District line on the Virginia side of the river, 
and to purchase of the present proprietors, and make 
forever free a bridge over the Little Falls of the Poto- 
mac Eiver ) coupling with its bounty, the condition, 
" that before the said sum be paid over to the said cor- 
poration, it shall pass an ordinance to make said road 
and bridge free, and to be kept in repair by said cor- 
poration." 

This bridge, built of timber, was supported by im- 



FALLS BRIDGE. 83 

mense cable chains stretching from pier to pier, from 
which the term " Chain Bridge," is derived. In 1832, 
during the winter of that year, the Falls Bridge, com- 
monly called the Chain Bridge., was taken down by 
the bridge company, on account of the great accumu- 
lation of ice in the river and the banking of the 
same against the bridge. The chronicler remembers 
seeing the flats, lying between the tow path of the 
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal and the river, being banked 
up with ice, mountains high, and so covered with 
debris and drift wood, that persons who went fishing 
at the Little Falls in the month of May or June, could 
always find a lump of ice to put into a bucket of 
water. This bridge was replaced by a more substan- 
tial structure, and paid for out of the one hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars given to the town by Con- 
gress, which remained a thoroughfare for a number of 
years, until carried off by an ice freshet during the 
winter of 1840, when the corporation built a new 
bridge of timber four hundred feet long, and costing 
thirteen thousand five hundred dollars, which lasted 
until destroyed by the ice freshet of April, 1852, but 
was afterwards rebuilt. 

In 1842, Congress extended the jurisdiction of the 
Corporation of Georgetown, so as to include the 
bridge which had then just been constructed, by that 
corporation, at the Little Falls. This act provides, 
" that as often, and so long, as said bridge shall here- 
after, from any cause, be impassible, it shall be lawful 
for the proprietors of land on both sides of the river 
through which the ferry road, to connect with the 



84 PALLS BRIDGE. 

Falls Bridge turnpike, shall pass, and they are hereby 
authorized and empowered to establish and keep a 
ferry, &c." 

In 1858, Congress, by an act making appropriations 
for sundry civil expenses of the government, placed 
the bridge under the protection of Georgetown, with 
power to regulate the speed of travel, and the pass- 
age of droves of cattle over the same, but expressly 
forbid that any tolls should be charged. 

In 1860, an appropriation was made to reimburse 
the Corporation of Georgetown for money advanced 
towards the construction of the Little Falls Bridge. 

In a report made by General Michler to the Secre- 
retary of War in 1869, upon the subject of " a rail- 
road bridge across the Potomac River, and the chan- 
nel of the river," considerable statistical information 
is given concerning the bridges in this District, and 
regrets expressed that but few of the reports, plans, 
and estimates of the different bridges are now to be 
found among the archives of the several departments, 
and that the most important facts concerning these 
works, aside from the various amounts appropriated 
and expended on them, are only to be obtained from 
the Statues at Large". 

The Falls Bridge, since its partial destruction by the 
freshet on the first of October, 1870, various appro- 
priations have, from time to time, been made for its 
repair, &c, but such expenditures proving to be un- 
satisfactory by reason of the floods, Congress, by an 
act approved June 10th, 1872, appropriated one hund- 
red thousand dollars for rebuilding the Falls Bridge, 



FALLS BRIDGE. 85 

with a proviso that it " shall be rebuilt as a substan- 
tial iron structure, upon plans approved by the chief 
of engineers of the army, and under his supervision 
and direction." Proposals were advertised for, and 
finally the bid of a bridge building firm from Con- 
necticut was accepted. These parties forfeited their 
rights by delay, and the contract was then made with 
Messrs. Clarke, Reeves & Co. 

So disastrous hitherto have the floods been to the 
bridges here, that General Babcock has taken the pre- 
caution in this instance, of having all the old piers 
raised two feet additional, thus giving more elevation, 
and affording more room for the ice and drift-wood. 

The plan for the new bridge selected by General 
Babcock as best adapted for this site, is what is known 
as the " Murphy Whipple Truss." It is divided into 
eight spans ; two of one hundred and sixty feet, and 
six of one hundred and seventy-two feet each. The 
entire length is one thousand three hundred and fifty- 
two feet. The spans are separate and independent of 
each other, resting on cast-iron bridge seats, securely 
anchored to stone copings ; one end of each span is 
fixed, and the other rests upon friction rollers pro- 
vided for the expansion and contraction of the iron. 
The trusses are twenty-eight feet in depth and placed 
twenty-two feet apart from centre to centre. Each 
truss of one hundred and seventy-two feet span is di- 
vided into twelve panels, and each truss of one hund- 
red and sixty feet into eleven panels of fourteen and 
one-half feet each. The upper cords, main and inter- 
mediate posts, are formed, of Phoenix column iron, and 

12 



86 FALLS BRIDGE. 

the lower cords, main and intermediate ties of the 
forged links, without welds. The posts are fitted to 
cast-iron caps and seats, the bottoms of the former 
and the tops of the latter being truly turned for that 
purpose. Turned wronght-iron pins, three inches in 
diameter, lock in one connection the caps of the col- 
ums and the diagonal ties, also the bottom cords, the 
seats of the columns, the diagonal ties, and the floor 
beam suspenders. The floor beams are fifteen-inch 
Phoenix rolled beams, and the floor joists and flooring 
are of the best North Carolina pine, three inches 
thick and not over six inches wide, with edges sawed 
straight, laid close, and securely spiked. There is.no 
side walks, but an iron railing four feet high, placed 
on either side of the carriage way, and to prevent col- 
lison during the dark nights, it was deemed necessary 
to light the bridge. Four sixteen-inch railroad reflec- 
tors were purchased and placed on the bridge, two to 
light the approaches, and two in the middle of the 
structure. The width of the broadway is twenty feet, 
and the bridge is proportional so as to safely carry in 
addition to the weight of the structure, one hundred 
pounds for each square loot of roadway, and the max- 
imum strain produced by this load is ten thousand 
pounds per square inch of section, or about one-sixth 
of its ultimate strength. The contract price for the 
entire work was ninety-four thousand dollars, which 
was paid by instalments as each span was completed. 
The work was begun about the 1st of January, 1874, 
and finished during the same year. 



MILITARY COMPANIES. 87 

Many of our citizens remember the military com- 
panies which existed in our town many years past, 
when the disposition to be a soldier was predominant 
in the human mind. At that time a law of Congress, 
passed 3d March, 1805, made it obligatory for all male 
citizens between the age of eighteen and forty-five to 
muster once a month certain months in the year, and 
on failure, were liable to a fine of five dollars for neg- 
lect of duty. The consequence was, many military 
companies were formed which flourished for a while 
until tired of parade duty, when they dissolved, and 
returned their arms to the United States. 

The chronicler will here mention, from memory, 
the names of the different companies organized in 
Georgetown : 

Morgan Rifles, Infantry, commanded by James 
Thomas ; Green's Rifles, Infantry, commanded by "fm. 
Jewell ; Blue's Muskets, Infantry, commanded by Thos. 
Corcoran ; Artillery Company, commanded by "Win. 
"W. Corcoran ; Artillery Company, commanded by 
John Kurtz ; Boys' Company, commanded by Lloyd 
Beall; Troop of Horse, commanded by Thos. Turner; 
Potomac Dragoons, commanded by John Mason ; 
Troop of Horse, commanded by "Wm. Stewart ; George- 
town Guards, commanded by Jeremiah Bronaugh ; 
Invincibles, Infantry, commanded by Levin Jones; 
Independent Grays, Infantry, commanded by Clement 
Smith; Morgan Rifles, Infantry, commanded by R. 
Emmet Duvall ; Independent Grays, Infantry, com- 
manded by James Godclard ; Potomac Light Infantry, 
commanded by J. Mclienry Hollingsworth ; Carring- 



88 MILITARY COMPANIES. 

ton Home Guards, commanded by James Goddard ; 
Anderson's Kifl.es, commanded by Charles H. Rodier. 

The form of a notice 1o muster was as follows: 

Georgetown. May 1, 1826. 
" Sir : You are notified to attend a battalion parade 
on the 20th instant, on the grounds immediately north 
of the residence of Col. James Thompson, at ten o'clock 
A. M., uniformed according to law. 

W. VV. CORCORAN, Captain:' 

Uniform : Blue coat, white pantaloons, white vest, 
black hat, black stock or cravat. 

To George Shoemaker. ' ? 

Captain Corcoran thought that Shoemaker, although 
a member of the Society of Friends, would make, by 
drilling, as good a soldier as General Green of the 
revolution, who belonged to the same society ; but 
Shoemaker demurred to the notice, and pleaded that he 
was a public functionary — holding an office as flour in- 
spector of Georgetown — and therefore was exempt 
from military duty. 

The students of Georgetown College formed them- 
selves into military companies prior to the war. The 
Senior Cadets were organized in 1851, and the Junior 
Cadets in 1855, and were supplied with arms by the 
United States. They occasionally paraded the streets 
of our town ; and by their soldierly appearance, and 
the promptitude and precision of their march and ma- 
noeuvres, attracted the attention of our citizens as well- 
drilled companies. They, too, like all our military 
companies, have passed away, and base ball and boat 
clubs have been substituted in their place. 



CONTESTED ELECTIONS. 89 

We have had some close elections in our town ; oc- 
casionally two candidates receiving the same number 
of votes for the board of common council, neither be- 
ing elected. Another election would have to be held 
over again. This event occurred at the election held 
on the 4th Monday in February, 1853, for aldermen 
and common council, when two candidates for the 
council, Jenkin Thomas and Peter Berry, received an 
equal number of votes; neither being elected, a new 
election was ordered by the mayor, when Peter Berry 
was elected. The mayor of the town being the highest 
officer, more enthusiasm was manifested when two 
candidates were running for the mayoralty. In this 
year, 1853, Henry Addison and William McKenny 
Osbourn were the candidates before the people for the 
office of mayor. Addison received two hundred and 
sixty-four votes, and William McKenny Osbourn two 
hundred and sixty-one, showing a majority of three 
votes in favor of Addison. The friends of Mr. Os- 
bourn were anxious to have the votes examined and 
counted over again, but were precluded by the return 
made by the judges of elections. In 1859 another 
election was held for the m ayoralty, Eichard R. Craw- 
ford being one of the candidates, and Henry Addison 
the other. The following opinion of Supreme Court of 
United States contains a clear and condensed state- 
ment of the case, and it is, therefore, given without 
abridgment. By virtue of this opinion, Mr. Crawford 
was restored to the mayoralty for the unexpired re- 
mainder of the term thereof, and recovered the amount 
of the salary for the time he was deprived of the office. 



90 CONTESTED ELECTIONS. 

The United States, on the relations ~\ ^ -. qa 

of R. R. Crawford, Pl'ff in Error, 1 December Term _ 

vs. 1867 

Henry Addison. J 



This action is brought in the name of the United 
States, but is prosecuted, in fact, for the benefit of 
R. R. Crawford, who was the relator in a proceeding 
in their name to oust the defendant, Addison, from 
the office of mayor of Georgetown. Crawford was 
mayor of that city on the fourth Monday of February, 
1859, and had been mayor for the two preceeding 
years. At the election for his successor, he was re- 
turned by the judges as elected for the two ensuing 
years, and presented himself before the joint conven- 
tion of the councils of the city and offered to take the 
oath of office prescribed by the charter. But, upon 
counting the votes cast for the different candidates, 
the councils declared that the defendant, Addison, was 
elected, and he was accordingly sworn into office, and 
entered into the discharge of its duties. A proceed- 
ing by quo warranto was immediately instituted by the 
United States, on the relation of Crawford, in the cir- 
cuit court of the District, to determine the right of 
the defendant to the office into which he had been in- 
stalled. It is unnecessary to detail the various steps 
taken in the proceeding. It is sufficient that they re- 
sulted in a judgment of ouster against the defendant. 
To review this judgment he immediately sued out a 
writ of error" from this court and tendered the bond 
in suit. This bond, the circuit court held, operated as 



CONTESTED ELECTIONS. 91 

a supersedeas, and refused the prayer of counsel for 
process to enforce the judgment. Application was 
then made to this court for a mandamus to the circuit 
court to compel the issue of process, notwithstanding 
the writ of error and bond. Counsel for the relator 
contends that the case was not one in which a writ of 
error would lie ; that, to authorize the writ, the matter 
in dispute must have a pecuniary value of at least one 
thousand dollars; that the matter in dispute was a 
public office of personal trust and confidence, which 
was not the subject of pecuniary estimation; that the 
salary annexed was not to be considered as the value 
of the office, but as an equivalent for the services to 
be rendered, and even that was payable in monthly 
instalments ; and that a mandamus should accordingly 
issue, especially as the term of office would expire 
about the commencement of the ensuing term of the 
court to which the writ of error was returnable. The 
counsel of the defendant, on the other hand, insisted 
that the pecuniary value of the office was determined 
by the salary annexed, and, as it amounted to a thou- 
sand dollars a year, the court had jurisdiction to re- 
view the judgment on writ of error, and that the bond 
stayed process on the judgment. And so the court 
held, and refused the mandamus. 

In January, 1861, the writ of error was dismissed, 
and on the 21st of that month the judgment of ouster 
against the defendant, Addison, was enforced, and the 
relator was installed in office. He then brought the 
present suit on the bond. By the judgment of ouster 
against Addison, his right to the office of mayor was 



92 CONTESTED ELECTIONS. 

determined ; the relator thereupon became entitled to 
the office, either by virtue of the declaration of the 
judges who had returned him elected, or by virtue of 
that provision of the charter, which enacts " that the 
mayor shall hold over until his successor is elected." 
By the writ of error and the suspension bond, the en- 
forcement of the judgment was prevented, and, until 
the writ was dismissed, the relator was excluded from 
the office and deprived of the salary annexed to it. 
The amount of the salary received by the defendant, 
Addison, during the period of such deprivation, con- 
stitutes, under the decision in the mandamus case, the 
measure of damages which the plaintiff is entitled to 
recover upon the suspension bond. 

The second instruction to the jury, which the plain- 
tiff requested, correctly presents the law of the case, 
and should have been given. The rule which meas- 
ures the damages upon a breach of contract for wages 
or for freight or for the lease of buildings, has no ap- 
plication. In these cases the party aggrieved must 
seek other employment or other articles for carriage 
or other tenants, and the damages recovered will be 
the difference between the amount stipulated and the 
amount actually received or paid. But no such rule 
can be applied to public officers or personal trust and 
confidence, the duties of which are not purely minis- 
terial or clerical. An attempt is made to avoid the 
liability of the defendant, Addison, by showing that, 
on the trial of the quo warranto* the jury in the first 
instance returned a special verdict, to the effect that 
there was a tie in the votes cast for him and the re- 



BANKS. 93 

lator respectively. This verdict is not evidence of the 
fact, for it was not received by the court or in any way 
made a matter of record. With the assent of the at- 
torney of the defendant, the Court directed the jury 
to retire to their room and consider their verdict. 
They did retire, as directed, and returned the verdict 
upon which the judgment of ouster was entered. 

BANKS. 

The Central Bank of Georgetown and Washing- 
ton was located in house No. 88 Bridge Street, now 
occupied by Joseph Birch, and formerly by the Poto- 
mac Insurance Company. The bank was chartered 
by an act of Congress, passed March 3d, 1817, but was 
of short duration, as, on the 2d March, 1821, Congress 
passed an act " that it shall be lawful for the Central 
Bank of Georgetown and Washington to proceed 
forthwith to liquidate and close all the concerns of the 
corporation ; and after paying and satisfying all the 
debts, contracts, and obligations of the corporation, to 
divide the capital and profits which may remain among 
the stockholders;" and for this purpose, all powers 
granted to said corporation were continued for five 
years longer, when the institution ceased to exist. 

UNION BANK. 

The Union Bank was located on the north side of 
Bridge Street, between Congress and High Streets, 
and was chartered by Congress on the 11th day of 
March, 1811, by the name of the " President and 
Directors of the Union Bank of Georgetown." The 

13 



94 BANKS. 

capital stock of the bank was five hundred thousand 
dollars, divided into shares of fifty dollars each. Bob- 
ert Beverly was president, and David English cashier. 
The bank did business until 1840, when it ceased to 
exist, and went into liquidation. 

BANK OF COLUMBIA. 

The Bank of Columbia, located on the hill, on the 
north side of Bridge Street, between Market Street 
and Bank Alley, was chartered by the Legislature of 
Maryland December 28th, 1793, by the name of the 
" President, Directors, and Company of the Bank of 
Columbia ;" the stock to consist of ten thousand shares 
of one hundred dollars each, making the capital stock 
one million of dollars. By the 14th section of the 
act of incorporation, " if any person did not pay his 
note, bond, or obligation, negotiable and payable at 
said bank at the maturity of the same, within ten days 
after demand of payment, then the bank, on sending 
the note or obligation to the clerk of the court, with 
proof of demands of payment, might have judgment 
entered against the delinquent debtor and execution 
issued to make the money." People in our days 
would not like any banking institution to have such 
power over their property. By the act of Congress, 
passed March 2d, 1821, the 14th section of the act of 
Maryland, incorporating the Bank of Columbia, was 
repealed. 

"When the bank failed, in 1826, it created consider- 
able excitement in the community. Those who held 
the notes of the bank found them worthless in their 



BANKS. 95 

hands. Those who owned stock in the bank and lived 
upon their dividends found their income gone. Those 
who had money deposited there discovered that it was 
lost. It is said that the United States had on deposit 
with the bank four hundred and sixty-nine thou- 
sand dollars, which was swallowed up in the gen- 
eral wreck of the institution. The chronicler re- 
members seeing, in a newspaper, the picture of a 
white cow representing the bank, with an official 
holding her by the tail, another holding her by the 
horns, the board of directors running off with the pails 
of milk, while the runner of the bank was feeding her 
with brick-bats and crying out that she would not eat. 

BANK OF COMMERCE. 

The Bank of Commerce was located on Bridge 
Street, in the building formerly occupied by the late 
Union Bank. It was an unincorporated institution, 
being a partnership between John L. Dufief, Samuel 
Fowler, Timothy O'Neal, Richard M. Boyer, Richard 
Pettit, William T. Herron, Susan Ireland, Charles E. 
Rittenhouse, and Hugh B. Sweeny. The parties above 
named, signed an agreement to conduct and establish 
an exchange and banking business in Georgetown, 
under the name of the "Bank of Commerce." The 
bank was organized on the 9th day of December, 1851, 
and the amount of capital paid in was seventy-six 
thousand three hundred dollars. It subsequently had 
a branch in Washington City, under the name and 
title of Sweeny, Rittenhouse & Co. The business 
of the bank was not prosperous, and, on the 1st 
day of December, 1864, the copartnership was dis- 



96 , BANKS. 

solved by mutual consent, and a process of settle- 
ment is now being had in court between the copart- 
ners, in the equity cause of Hamilton G. Fant, com- 
plainant, vs. John L. Dufief and others, defendants, to 
which the reader is referred for a more extended his- 
tory. 

FARMERS AND MECHANICS' NATIONAL BANK. 

The Farmers and Mechanics' ]STational Bank of 
Georgetown was originally a partnership concern en- 
tered into by sundry persons on the 1st Monday of 
February, in the year 1814, under the name and style 
of the " President and Directors of the Farmers and 
Mechanics' Bank of Georgetown." On the 3d of 
March, 1817, a charter was granted by Congress 
under the name and style of the " Farmers and Me- 
chanics' Bank of Georgetown," with a capital stock of 
five hundred thousand dollars, divided into shares of 
twenty-five dollars each. The bank continued to do 
business under its charter, which was extended by act 
of Congress passed in 1821 to 3d March, 1836, when 
its charter being about to expire, the board of direct- 
ors petitioned Congress for a renewal of the same. 
In their petition they say : " Your memorialists beg 
leave to mention one fact which ought, and they 
doubt not, will bespeak favors to this institution. 
The fact to which we allude is that, during the war 
of 1812, when our national credit was stricken be- 
yond measure, the means and resources of this institu- 
tion were tendered to and accepted by our Govern- 
ment ; that during that dark period she never denied 
the call of her country, but from time to time advanced 



BANKS. 97 

several hundred thousand dollars in response to its 
call ; that by her funds the southwestern army which 
won such bright trophies at ISTew Orleans, were mainly 
sustained ; that, at that period, this institution was but 
a private association of individuals without a charter ; 
that, consequently, for all engagements those individ- 
uals stood personally responsible ; lovers of their coun- 
try, they saw their country in need, and patriotism 
prompted them to her relief. For these facts we ap- 
peal not only to the records of the institution, but to 
the official documents of your Government of that 
day." 

The charter of the bank was renewed by Congress 
from time to time, and the business of the bank pros- 
pered so much that the stock which was selling in 
1838 for fifty cents on the dollar, rose in a short time 
to seventy-five, and before 1870, went above par value. 
"When the bank was converted into one of the national 
banks, under the name and style of the "Farmers and 
Mechanics' National Bank of Georgetown," coming 
under the act of Congress of June 3d, 1864, the divi- 
dends declared by the bank have been four per cent, 
every six months, which is most gratifying to the stock- 
holders, and shows that the bank affairs are well 
managed and in good hands. We now give a list of 
the presidents and cashiers of the bank from the 
chronicler's recollection : Clement Smith, president to 
1844 ; John Kurtz, president to 1850 ; Eobert Reed, 
president to 1862 ; George Shoemaker, president to 
1865 ; Henry M. Sweeney, president from 1865 to the 
present time. 



98 BANKS. 

LIST OF CASHIERS. 

John I. Stull, to 1844 ; Alexander Suter, to 1848 ; 
"William Lang, to 1851 ; William Laird, cashier from 
1851 to the present time. 

This bank is the only bank in town ; and, having a 
good set of officers, its business is prosperous. The 
bank suspended specie payment in 1834, when all the 
banks of the country suspended, also in 1837, and 
again in 1857, but it suspended at the request of the 
business community, so that the bank might continue 
to discount paper, and not for the want of specie. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Post-Office and Custom-House — List of Postmasters — Col- 
lectors of Customs — Market House — Fire Companies — De- 
struction by the Flames — Metropolitan Railroad — List 
of Newspapers — Literati. 

A town without a post-office is not known in our 
country. It was a great invention of the Government 
for the transmission of news from one end of the na- 
tion to the other. In the far West, every town that 
has its name blazed upon a tree has a post-office, and 
the postmaster carries the contents of the office in his 
hat. Our town has been blessed with a post-office 
from a remote period. The chronicler remembers 
when the post-office was kept on Congress Street, in a 
small office, the size of a lawyer's office of the pres- 
ent day, whence it was removed to the basement of a 
two-story brick house on the same street, when it was 
transferred to FoxalPs Row on Bridge Street, and after- 
wards to the Union Hotel, when it was again pushed 
back to Foxall's Row. It never had a permanent lo- 
cation until Congress purchased a lot of ground on 
Congress Street, for five thousand dollars, by deed 
dated October 23d, 1856, and erected thereon a granite 
building for a post-office and custom-house at a cost of 
fifty-five thousand three hundred and sixty-eight dollars, 
under the superintendence of R. R. Sheckells, master 
builder. The building is two stories high and fronts 

LOfC. 



100 POST-OFFICE AND CUSTOM HOUSE. 

sixty feet on the street, and in altitude is forty-five 
feet. The first story is used exclusively as a post-office, 
being fitted up with boxes to the number of nine hun- 
dred and fifty-six, with locks and keys ; also two spa- 
cious rooms for the superintendent and clerks. The 
second story is used for the custom-house, consisting 
of two rooms for the use of the collector and clerks. 
The basement of the building is used for the storage 
of foreign goods until the duties are paid. 

In 1790, there were only seventy-five post-offices 
in the United States, and Georgetown was one of, 
them ; but it has been ascertained that the office was 
in operation on the 5th January, 1776, under the man- 
agement of Benjamin Franklin, who was the first 
Postmaster General, and who had an assistant here 
to manage the office. The rates of postage at that 
day were high compared with the present. Single let- 
ter, sixty miles or less, seven cents ; one hundred miles 
and over sixty, eleven cents ; two hundred miles and 
over one hundred, fifteen cents; three hundred miles 
and over two hundred, nineteen cents ; four hundred 
miles and over three hundred, twenty-four cents ; five 
hundred miles and over four hundred, twenty-eight 
cents; six hundred miles and over five hundred, 
thirty-three cents. At the present time there are over 
thirty-nine thousand post-offices in the whole country. 

We here insert the names of the postmasters, and 
the date of their appointment, for the Georgetown post- 
office : 



POSTMASTERS — COLLECTORS OF CUSTOMS. 101 

"William B. Magruder, appointed 16th of February, 
1790 ; Richard Forrest, appointed 1st of April, 1797 ; 
Joseph Carlton, appointed 1st of February, 1799 ; 
Tristram Dalton, appointed 1st of January, 1803; 
James Armstrong, appointed 1st of September, 1817 ; 
James P. W. Kollock, appointed 20th of May, 1819 ; 
"Whiteing Sanford, appointed 6th of January, 1820 ; 
"William Huffington, appointed 18th of September, 
1821 ; Thomas Corcoran, appointed 22d of October, 
1823 ; James Corcoran, appointed 1st of February, 
1830 ; Harriet H. Corcoran, appointed 18th of Decem- 
ber, 1834, and 9th of July, 1836 ; Henry W. Tilley, 
appointed 3d of June, 1840; 13th of June, 1844; 
17th of June, 1848 ; 13th of August, 1852 ; 9th of 
August, 1856, and 3d of August, 1860 ; Henry Addi- 
son, appointed 6th of June, 1861 ; George Hill, Jr., 
appointed 12th of July, 1865 ; Charles H. Cragin, ap- 
pointed 17th of June, 1870 ; George Hill, Jr., appointed 
6th of August, 1873. 

The office was made a branch of the Washington 
post-office on the 24th of December, 1877. 

COLLECTORS OF CUSTOMS. 

James McCubbin Lingan, collector, appointed Octo- 
ber 1st, 1790, and before ; John Oakley, appointed 
October 1st, 1801 ; John Barnes, appointed May 6th, 
1806 ; Thomas Turner, appointed March 7th, 1826 ; 
Robert White, appointed July 20th, 1840 ; Henry Ad- 
dison, appointed July 9th, 1841 ; Robert White, ap- 
pointed July 2d, 1845 ; Henry Addison, appointed 
July 20th, 1849 ; Robert White, appointed April 6th, 
1853 ; Henry C. Matthews, appointed April 20th, 

14 



102 MARKET HOUSE. 

1857 ; Judson Mitchell, appointed June 8th, 1861 ; 
James Magruder, appointed September 15th, 1864 ; 
Charles 8. English, appointed July 27th, 1871 ; Fran- 
cis Dodge, appointed October 2d, 1877. 

MARKET HOUSE. 

A market house is an institution of great service 
and benefit to the citizens of a town, where the coun- 
try people, butchers, and hucksters can assemble every 
morning, with the productions of the soil and meats 
to sell to the hungry citizens. Such an institution 
congregates a large number of persons, to exchange 
money for something to eat and express their opinions 
about the size of a goose or turkey, or whether a 
chicken offered for sale is the one which crowed when 
Peter denied his Master. 

Our old market house was erected about the year 
1806, on lots of ground conveyed by Adam King and 
John Mitchell to the mayor, recorder, board of alder- 
men, and common council of Georgetown, for the pur- 
pose of building thereon a market house, as per deeds 
dated October 23d, and December 27th, 1802, as re- 
corded in liber No. 9, pages 129 and 130, one of the land 
records of the District of Columbia. The building was 
erected and used by the town up to 1864, when, be- 
coming so dilapidated, it was torn down and a new 
building erected in its place in 1865, at a cost of fifty 
thousand dollars. During the progress of the work the 
town authorities rented of the owners the old tobacco 
warehouses, situated between Bridge Street and the 
canal, to be used as a market house until the completion 



MARKET HOUSE. 103 

of the new building. After the new market was ready, 
several butchers preferred remaining in the old tobacco 
warehouses, and purchased the same from the owners 
for thirty-six thousand five hundred dollars, and spent 
ten thousand dollars more for fitting up the same for 
conducting a market business under the name and 
style of the " Farmers and Butchers' Marketing Com- 
pany of Georgetown." Our corporate authorities re- 
fused to grant them a license to sell. The consequence 
was the Farmers and Butchers' Marketing Company 
applied to the supreme court of the District of Colum- 
bia for an injunction against the town authorities ; but 
the injunction was, after argument, denied. The Far- 
mers and Butchers' Marketing Company then went to 
"Washington and opened a bazaar on the east side of 
Rock Creek, near the Aqueduct Bridge, where they re- 
mained until the District government was established, 
under an act of Congress passed February 21, 1871, 
when a license being granted to them by the District of 
Columbia they returned to Georgetown . It is rumored, 
at the time of penning these events, that the Farmers 
and Butchers' Marketing Company have sold to the 
Washington and Georgetown Railroad' Company all 
their propert}% to establish thereon a depot, which 
sale, if consummated, will be of great benefit to our 
town, as the railroad company will erect a magnificent 
depot upon lots 46, 47, and 48 that will be an orna- 
ment to the town, and increase its business by adding 
a large stock of horses and a number of employes. 
It will make a market for the farmers to sell their 
oats, corn, and hay to the railroad company. 



104 FIRE COMPANIES. 

The deeds of conveyance being executed, the 
Farmers and Butchers' Marketing Company have 
purchased a lot on the west side of High Street, near 
Gay, and erected thereon a spacious market house, 
eighty feet square and twenty-eight feet in altitude, 
containing forty-eight stalls in six rows of benches, 
with a basement for ice-house and cellars. This 
market will be a great convenience to the citizens liv- 
ing in the upper part of the town. 

FIRE COMPANIES. 

The first fire company formed in Georgetown was 
in the year 1803, when a fire-engine was purchased 
by subscription and taken charge of by the corpora- 
tion ; and a by-law was passed, compelling every 
owner of a house to have as many leather fire-buckets 
kept in his house as there were stories, to be numbered 
and the name of the owner painted on them, to be 
used in time of fire, and to contain not less than two 
and one-half gallons of water. 

In the year 1817, a new fire-engine was purchased 
by the corporation of John Agnue, of Philadelphia, 
and named the Vigilant, when a company was formed 
by electing John Kurtz, president; Arnold Boone, 
vice-president; James Moore, secretary, and James 
Corcoran, treasurer; with a list of engine-men and 
others connected with the company. Other fire com- 
panies were formed on the 15th day of May, 1819, 
called the Columbian, and the Mechanical; and at a 
later day the Western Star and Eagle companies came 
into existence. These engines had long iron levers 



FIRE COMPANIES. 105 

with wooden arms, to be worked by tbe strength of 
the men in throwing water from the engines — the 
first set of men being exhausted, a fresh set would 
have to take their places. This was the old method 
of extinguishing fires. 

After the Treasury Department was burnt in May, 
1833, and the Patent Office in December, 1836, Con- 
gress made liberal appropriations for the purchase of 
fire apparatus for Washington City. The Franklin, 
Union, Columbia, Perseverance, Northern Liberty, 
and Anacostia fire companies were furnished with 
new engines and apparatus. To show their strength 
a great parade was had on the 24th day of October, 
1837. Being a very warm day, many persons were 
dressed in summer clothing. The Vigilant and West- 
ern Star companies united in the procession. The 
route of march was through Washington and George- 
town. We had no hydrant water from the Potomac 
at that day, and the wells were pumped dry to supply 
the thirsty multitude who came from the surrounding 
country to witness the grand pageant. 

On the 26th of June, 1866, the Corporation of 
Georgetown purchased a steam fire-engine and new 
apparatus for seven thousand five hundred dollars, and 
appointed fire commissioners to select suitable officers 
for the management of the same. The engine can 
throw two streams, and in a horizontal direction can 
throw a stream two hundred and thirty-eight feet, and 
a perpendicular stream over the flag-staff of the 'Ar- 
lington Hotel. The reel has fourteen hundred feet of 
hose, two and one half inches in diameter. There are 



106 DESTRUCTION BY THE FLAMES. 

two horses to each piece of apparatus. The whole is 
managed by ten men, who sleep at the engine house, 
each having a separate bed and wardrobe. 

DESTRUCTION BY THE FLAMES. 

Our town has been more fortunate than some others 
in not suffering much by the devouring element. I 
chronicle the number of fires from my recollection : 
In 1830, a row of brick houses on the south side of 
First Street, belonging to the late Bank of the United 
States, were destroyed by fire; afterwards rebuilt. 
In 1831, December 1st, a large fire on west side of 
High Street, originated in the bakehouse of White & 
Mumby, destroying the brick dwelling and store con- 
nected with the same, also the warehouse of White & 
Mumby, with their stock of groceries, also dwelling 
occupied by Matthew McLeocl, also two frame build- 
ings. The fire was checked in its course by the fire- 
proof warehouse of John Kurtz, now occupied by 
John M. May, but from that north to First Street all 
the buildings were destroyed. The next fire was in 
January, 1832 ; the brick warehouse on High Street oc- 
cupied by William Love. The next was the fine old 
Union Hotel on Bridge Street, burned in August, 
1832, being the property of William Crawford's heirs. 
The next was John Lawrence's skin dressing estab- 
lishment on Fayette Street; burnt three times; the 
last time in 1838. Hick's cabinet store and shop 
burnt three times ; the last time in 1843. The 
" Cedars," the residence of Col. Cox, burnt on Sunday, 
in January, 1847. A large brick warehouse situated 



DESTRUCTION BY THE FLAMES. 107 

on Water Street east of Frederick, used as a tannery, 
was destroyed by fire in 1850. Brown's bakehouse, 
situated on Water Street, was burned in 1840, and once 
before in 1838. Nourse & Bomford's large flour mill 
burned in September, 1844. Bradley's warehouse, oc- 
cupied by Dawson as a soap and grease factory, situ- 
ated on Water Street just west of Frederick, was de- 
stroyed in 1863. Two brick houses on West Street, 
one owned by Mrs. Abbot, the other by Miss Magru- 
der, was destroyed by fire on the 15th day of April, 
1857. One three-story brick dwelling on Jefferson 
Street in October, 1857. Also the fine residence of 
the late Commodore Cassin on Beall Street. " Carter 
Place," occupied by the French Minister, Count de 
Sartiges, and formerly by John F. Crampton, envoy 
from England, was burned in 1864. A large ware- 
house belonging to Gilbert Yanderwerken, situated 
on the lots formerly belonging to the Farmers and 
Butchers' Market Company, and formerly used by the 
Corporation of Georgetown for storing tobacco, was 
destroyed by fire on the 15th day of August, 1864, be- 
ing filled with bales of hay. William H. Hazel's 
livery stable was destroyed on the 3d August, 1859, 
and again in the year 1864. Three houses on Pros- 
pect Street was destroyed by fire in 1868. Rams- 
burg & Sons' sumac mill and skin dressing establish- 
ment, situated near the Alexandria Aqueduct, was 
burnt in 1871, and again in 1873. Lee's buildings 
(feed store, and dwelling), corner Bridge and Green 
Streets, was destroyed by fire in April, 1871. Three 
houses on Bridge Street, situated west of Market 



108 METROPOLITAN RAILROAD. 

Street, was burned January 1st, 1877. A merchant 
mill of Mark Young was destroyed by fire on 3d July, 

1877. 

METROPOLITAN RAILROAD. 

On the 3d day of May, 1853, an act was passed by the 
Legislature of Maryland incorporating the Metropoli- 
tan Railroad Company, to make a railroad from a 
point in connection with the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 
road, at or near the Point of Rocks, to Georgetown, 
in the District of Columbia, which act was ratified by 
Congress. Books of subscription to the stock of said 
company were opened by the commissioners named 
in said act, and, over ten thousand shares of the stock 
having been subscribed, amounting to upwards of five 
hundred thousand dollars, the necessary steps were 
taken to organize the said company by the election of 
president and directors. By an ordinance of the boards 
of aldermen and common council, passed June 11, 
1853, and approved by the mayor, the mayor was au- 
thorized to subscribe in their name for five thousand 
shares of said stock, equal to two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars. That subscription was made. By 
a subsequent ordinance David English, Evan Lyons, 
Robert P. Dodge, William H. Edes, and Walter S. 
Cox, or a majority of them, were appointed to vote 
the stock of the town at any meeting of the stock- 
holders of the said company. By an act of Congress, 
passed March 2d, 1855, the town was empowered to 
levy a tax to pay their subscription to the Metropoli- 
tan Railroad. After the election of a president and 
directors of said company, the first instalment of 



METROPOLITAN RAILROAD. 109 

twenty-five thousand dollars upon the stock subscribed 
by the town was paid. On the 21st of June, 1856, 
the corporation passed an ordinance to pay the second 
instalment on their subscription to the stock of the 
railroad company, which was vetoed by the Mayor, 
Henry Addison, but the said ordinance was passed, 
notwithstanding the veto, by a two-thirds majority. 
The mayor then declared that he would not sign the 
bonds of the corporation to meet this second instal- 
ment. 

By the 20th section of the charter, the road was to 
be commenced within two years and to be completed 
within five years, or the charter to be forfeited. The 
amount of stock subscribed was six thousand three 
hundred and thirty-four shares at fifty dollars per share, 
amounting to three hundred and sixteen thousand 
seven hundred dollars. The second instalment due 
by the town to the railroad company was not paid, 
because the mayor refused to sign the bonds. Neither 
was the second instalment paid by the individual 
stockholders. The consequence was, the road, although 
apparently begun within two years, but not being 
completed within five years, the charter became for- 
feited. 

Now, let us see what benefits would have accrued 
to the town if an obstinate, perverse mayor had not 
refused to sign the bonds to pay the second instalment 
and all other instalments due the railroad company, 
and all subscribers had paid promptly their subscrip 
tion. We should have a railroad to-day, reaching 
from Georgetown to the Point of Rocks, which, if it 



110 LIST OF NEWSPATERS — LITERATI. 

paid no dividends to the stockholders, would have 
multiplied the business of the town and increased the 
value of real estate, and, in all probability, during the 
civil war the road would have paid for itself in trans- 
porting troops, munitions of war, freight, and other 
property of the United States, besides the thousands 
of passengers traveling over the road. The estimated 
cost of the road was one million eight hundred thou- 
sand dollars. The road would have shortened the 
distance between Georgetown and the Point of Rocks 
forty-seven miles. 

LIST OF NEWSPAPERS. 

Weekly Ledger, published in 1790 ; Sentinel of Lib- 
erty, by Green, English & Co., 1796 ; Federal Repub- 
lican, 1812; National Messenger, 1817;'' Georgetown 
Columbian and District Advertiser, by Samuel J. Rind, 
1826 ; Columbian Gazette, by Benjamin Homans, 1829 ; 
Metropolitan, by Langtree & O'Sullivan, from 1835 to 
1837 ; Potomac. Advocate, by Thomas Turner, 1840 ; 
National Whig Review, 1838 ; Georgetown Advocate, 
from 1841 to 1845; Georgetown Reporter, by Joseph 
Williamson, 1852; Georgetown Advocate, by Ezekiel 
Hughes, from 1845 to 1860 ; Georgetown Courier, by 
J. D. McGill, from 1865 to 1874 ; College Journal, by 
Rev. J. S. Sumner, from 1872 to the present time. 

LITERATI. 

As this book is intended to chronicle the events of 
the town, and "not to contain a biography of the citi- 
zens, the chronicler cannot refrain from mentioning 
several of the literati who have resided amona; us. 



LITERATI. Ill 

John J. Piatt, the editor of The Capital, whose pro- 
ductions are indentified with the scenery of the Poto- 
mac River, formerly resided here. Mrs. Emma D. E. 
N. Southworth, the author of the "Lost Heiress," 
" Deserted Wife," " Missing Bride," " Wife's Victory," 
and other works of fiction, has her residence on Pros- 
pect Hill. Professor Samuel Tyler, the author of a 
discourse on " Baconian Philosophy," " Progress of 
Philosophy," " Memoir of R. B. Taney," "Treatise on 
Pleading in Maryland Courts of Law," and other 
works, departed this life on the 15th of December, 
1877, at his residence on Washington Street. Charles 
Lanman, the author of " Essays for Summer Hours," 
"A Summer in the Wilderness," '"'Life of Daniel 
Webster," " Dictionary of Congress," and other pro- 
ductions, resides at his cosy dwelling on West Street. 
Wm. L. Shoemaker, M. D., whose lyrics and sonnets 
have been read with pleasure for many years by his 
fellow citizens, and whose muse deserves a much 
wider recognition than they have hitherto enjoyed, is 
a native and resident of the town. 



CHAPTER V. 

Poor-House, Will of John Barnes, and Donation of W. W. 
Corcoran — Commerce — Alexandria Aqueduct — Washington 
Aqueduct. 

A town without a poor-house is no town at all. As 
the misfortunes in this life are numerous, no man 
knows how suddenly he may fall into them. We 
have had an alms-house for nearly half a century, and 
to it have gone many citizens who had baffled the 
waves and billows of this life, until, overcome by 
adversity, they were compelled to seek the shelter 
and charity of the town. The chronicler has seen 
men', who, when he was a child, were living in com- 
fortable mansions, but, before he grew to manhood, 
they had fallen into adversity, and were living at the 
expense of the people. Old age and poverty are two 
hard things, therefore it becomes men, when young 
and strong, to lay up something for the future period 
of life, so that, if they should live to become old, they 
will not have to depend upon others for a support. 

The incipiency of a poor-house was first conceived 
by the mind of John Barnes, who was collector of the 
port of Georgetown. He died on the 12th of Febru- 
ary, 1826, leaving a will, in which he says: 

" It has often occurred to me that the time was not 
far distant (indeed it has already become urgently nec- 
essary), when a poor-house or bettering house for this 



WILL OF JOHN BARNES. 113 

county or town (it matters not b} 7 what name denomi- 
nated) should be established, and if proposed through 
the honorable and respectable Corporation of George- 
town, I doubt not that it would be ultimately suc- 
cessful, and, thereby, a good foundation would be laid 
towards perfecting a useful and meritorious work wor- 
thy the enlightened, benevolent, and opulent inhabi- 
tants of the District and its vicinity, and the humane 
at large, of contributing to the comfort and improve- 
ment of the suffering objects of such institutions. 
Whenever any progressive proceedings towards such 
an end becomes certain and conclusive, a sum not ex- 
ceeding one thousand dollars, as occasionally wanted 
and demanded, I freely bequeath towards its estab- 
lishment, and I do direct my executors, having a re- 
gard to the bequeaths heretofore contained, to pay the 
same to the authorities having power and right to re- 
ceive the same for such a purpose. And as the estab- 
lishment of a poor-house, hospital, or bettering house 
for this county or town, is an object very near my 
heart, I do direct that if my executors or trustees, for 
the time being, shall, in the exercise of the discretion 
hereby vested in them, suffer the surplus, the annual 
proceeds, to accumulate, then I give another one 
thousand dollars out of such accumulation, in addition 
to what I have herein before directed to be applied to 
that purpose, as aforesaid, in further aid of the estab- 
lishment and maintenance of such poor-house, hos- 
pital, or bettering house, but neither of such bequests 
is to be applied until my executors or trustees for the 
time being, shall perceive that such proceedings have 



114 THE POOR-HOUSE. 

been begun, as will render the final accomplishment 
and completion of said poor-house or hospital reasona- 
bly certain." 

These clevises of Barnes' will was contested by his 
heirs, but the matter was afterwards compromised, 
and on the 27th of October, 1827, the corporation pur- 
chased a piece of land, being lot No. 276, in Beatty 
& Hawkins' addition to Georgetown, paying one hund- 
red dollars per acre for the same; and on the 6th of 
November, 1830, the town authorities appropriated 
five thousand dollars to build and erect a suitable 
building for a poor-house upon said lot. 

Although our town was chartered in 1789, and 
amendments to the same were made in 1797, also by 
Congress in 1805, 1809, and in 1824, it was not dis- 
covered, until John Barnes died, that such impecunious 
individuals as "poor people," were to be found in our 
jurisdiction ; when, all of a sudden, it was discovered 
that the town had no charter-power to build and erect 
a poor-house. An application was made to Congress, 
when authority was given by the act of 20th of May, 
1826, when, by an ordinance of the corporation, ap- 
proved on the 30th day of December, 1826, James 8. 
Morsell, John Little, John Baker, William G. Kidgely, 
Danniel Bussard, John McDaniel, Charles A. Burnett, 
and Gideon Davis, with the Mayor of the town as 
their president, shall constitute a board of trustees for 
the poor of Georgetown until the first Monday in Jan- 
uary, 1828, and until successors be appointed. 

The corner-stone of the poor-house was laid by the 
Masons in 1831, in the midst of a large concourse of citi- 



THE POOR-HOUSE. 115 

zens, and in the presence of the mayor, recorder, al- 
dermen, and common council of the town. The 
Rev. Mr. "Wallace, the then pastor of the Methodist 
Protestant Church, preached a most eloquent discourse 
on the occasion. The building was soon erected, and 
has an imposing appearance a sseen from the road. It is 
two stories high with a wing at each end ; one wing 
being used by the family of the superintendent. The 
lower rooms in the main building were used for the 
kitchen ; Nos. 1 and 2, dining room for boys ; ISTo. 3, 
dining room for girls. The rooms in the second story 
and dormitories were used for sleeping apartments. 
The rooms extend in depth to the width of the build- 
ing. The first superintendent was Charles Shoemaker ; 
the second, Jos. Brooks; the third, J. M. Barnecloe; 
the fourth, Reazin Stevens ; the fifth, W. B. Pomeroy. 

In those days the grounds were cultivated. Fruit 
and vegetables were raised in abundance to supply the 
inmates of the poor-house as well as for sale in the 
market, and the house and grounds showed a flourish- 
ing condition, that was captivating to the visitor. 

They had a custom of washing oft" every person who 
was committed to the poor-house by the police magis- 
trate of the town, by stripping them of their clothing, 
whether the weather was cold or warm, and standing 
them in a tall chimney, two stories high) the top of 
which was covered with a sieve), when a man would 
carry up a large bucket of water and pour the con- 
tents upon the head and body of the prisoner. The 
consequence was, if the weather was cold, it was a 
chilly reception, and in two cases, to the chronicler's 



116 THE POOR-HOUSE. 

knowledge, when the shower bath had been used upon 
individuals who were committed for intemperance, in 
cold weather, were attacked with mania a potu and 
died from its effects. 

Whether the building will be continued to be occu- 
pied as a poor-house, is a question to be determined. 
The chronicler is informed, that it may be converted 
into a Home Industrial School, and the inmates of the 
alms-house sent to the poor-house located on the East- 
ern Branch. This, we think, would be a violation of 
the original design of the founder of the institution, 
and if converted to any other purpose than a poor- 
house, the property might revert to the heirs of the 
late John Barnes. Although, a Home Industrial 
School is a good institution where the boys can learn 
habits of industry, that will carry them forward into 
any pursuit of life, nevertheless, this building has been 
dedicated for a poor-house, and should be used for 
that purpose in all time to come, and our District Com- 
missioners should see that the grounds are cultivated 
in a successful manner according to the rules of hus- 
bandry, by the inmates of the institution, so they can 
raise their supply of fruit and vegetables, and not de- 
pend upon the neighboring markets for everything to 
eat, by taxing the citizens with appropriations. 

The chronicler is informed that, at the time of pen- 
ning these events, there are twenty-five boys attend- 
ing the Home Industrial School in town, who are 
lodged and fed at the poor-house, while the number 
of poor persons, who have been sent there for sup- 
port, does not exceed thirteen. 



DONATION OF W. W. COKCORAN. 117 

On the 29th day of May, 1848, William W. Cor- 
coran, being desirous to signify his attachment to 
Georgetown, the place of his birth, and to the inhabi- 
tants thereof, did, by his endorsement made on four- 
teen bonds of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company 
(each bearing date the 3d day of May, 1848, and num- 
bered as follows: six bonds of one thousand dollars 
each, numbered 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, and 148, and 
eight bonds of five hundred dollars each, numbered 
135, 143, 144, 145, 146,147, 151, and 152, making an 
aggregate of ten thousand dollars,) transfer and assign 
the said bonds to the mayor, recorder, aldermen, and 
common council of Georgetown, to be held by them 
and their successors forever; the interest accruing 
from said bonds to be applied to the support and main- 
tenance of the impecunious citizens of the town. This 
generous donation has now been in existence for thirty 
years, and has carried gladness to the hearts of many 
families who, otherwise, would have suffered for want 
of the necessaries of life. The chronicler is informed 
that the interest is paid over to the ladies of the 
Benevolent Society of our town, who purchase fuel 
and provisions and distribute them among the most 
needy citizens. This donation of Colonel Corcoran's 
is sufficient to entitle him to the grateful thanks of all 
the citizens of our town ; but what shall be said when 
the chronicler writes a chapter upon Oak Hill Ceme- 
tery, showing that his donations amount to upwards of 
a hundred thousand dollars, given towards this beau- 
tiful city of the dead. 

16 



118 COMMERCE. 

To attempt to write an account of the commerce of 
a city, is to give a history of its export and import 
trade. But what the chronicler understands by com- 
merce, is not only transportation by water, but what- 
ever conduces to the traffic of a town or city, either 
by land or water, in multiplying business. 

The commerce of our town had its origin in the 
first settlement of our country, by the farmers of the 
surrounding country bringing to market the various 
productions of the soil to be bartered or exchanged 
for domestic goods. Among the numerous articles of 
commerce brought to town for sale was tobacco, which 
was hauled from a long distance in wagons, and, after 
undergoing inspection, was sold to our merchants to 
be shipped abroad. The tobacco warehouse was then 
located on a large lot lying south of Bridge Street 
and west of Market Street ; or rather between Market 
and Frederick Streets, was a frame building called 
Loundes' warehouse, where all the tobacco was in- 
spected and sold. The shipping at that time was con- 
fined to the west end of the town, near the Alexandria 
Aqueduct, where there were spacious wharves and 
warehouses ; and our ships that carried the tobacco to 
foreign countries sailed down the western channel, 
between Analostan Island and the Virginia shore, be- 
fore the stone causeway was erected in 1805. After 
the erection of the causeway the vessels sailed through 
the eastern channel, and our merchants commenced 
building warehouses along the south side of "Water 
Street and nearer to the river center of the town. 

In course of time the tobacco trade had increased 



COMMERCE. 119 

to such an extent that there was a demand for room. 
In the year 1822, the corporation passed an ordinance 
for building two new tobacco warehouses, three stories 
high, and lire-proof, on lots 46, 47, and 48, situated 
west of High and south of Bridge Street. The roofs 
were covered with slate and the doors and shutters 
with sheet-iron. The buildings were large enough to 
hold several thousand hogsheads of tobacco, but were 
found insufficient to receive the quantity of tobacco 
brought to the town for sale. Consequently, the cor- 
poration erected wooden sheds in addition to the brick 
warehouses. The inspection of tobacco multiplied, 
and the business so increased, that as high as five thou- 
sand hogsheads of tobacco were shipped to Europe in 
one year. The removal of the inspection of tobacco 
from Loundes' warehouse to the new buildings, was 
ordered by the town authorities on the 26th of July, 
1824. 

The tobacco business of the town continued pros- 
perous until the death of John Laird, on the 11th of 
July, 1833, when the firm of Laird & Son was dis- 
solved, and the trade died with them, as there ap- 
peared to be no other tobacco merchants in the market. 

On the 18th day of March, 1836, George B. Magru- 
der, the tobacco inspector of the town, addressed a 
letter to the corporation, regretting that he would have 
to give up the cooperage on tobacco, finding by expe- 
rience in the last two years that, after paying for labor 
and nails on twenty-one hundred hogsheads of tobacco, 
coopered at seventy-five cents per hogshead, it had 
left him about two hundred and fifty dollars a year 



120 COMMERCE. 

for himself and pay of a clerk, requesting a salary 
for his services, and to have a cooper appointed. If 
this proposition should not be agreed to, he would try 
the inspection one year more, provided the corporation 
would give him the outage on all tobacco inspected 
by him. 

In the month of September, 1844, the large mer- 
chant mill erected by Colonel George Bomford, at the 
foot of the market house, was destroyed by fire ; and 
in the spring of 1845, Colonel Bomford erected a cot- 
ton factory on the ruins of the old mill, which went 
into operation in 1847. Colonel Bomford considered 
that a cotton factory would be of more benefit to the 
town than a flour mill, in giving employment to a large 
class of its population. The factory was run under 
his ownership until 1850, when it was sold to Thomas 
Wilson, of Baltimore, who run the factory until the 
breaking out of the late war, when the supply of cot- 
ton was cut off. In 1866 the building was purchased 
by our enterprising fellow-citizen, A. H. Herr, who 
converted it again into a merchant flour mill. 

We here exhibit the trade, foreign and coastwise, 
of the port of Georgetown. Amount of duties on 
goods accrued ; expenses attending its collection in 
payment to officers ; also, the value of American goods 
and produce exported to foreign markets; also, the 
value of American produce and manufactures ship- 
ped coastwise; and the aggregate tonnage engaged 
in carrying on the trade in its different branches for 
a number of years : 



COMMERCE. 121 

No. 1. Amount of duties se- 
cured, beginning with the 
year 1815, and ending in 

1835 ' $457,396 

Payment of salaries $40,000 

Bonds unpaid 4,479 44,479 

Paid over to the United States, $412,917 

No. 2. Value of produce ex- 
ported to foreign markets 
from 1815 to 1835 $4,077,708 

Being an annual average of... $203,885.40 

No. 3. Value of American pro- 
duce shipped coastwise from 
1826 to 1835 $5,190,540 

Items as follows : 

Flour: 919,940 bbls. valued at $4,710,540 
Tobacco: 5,400 hhd's " " 300,000 
Other articles exceeding $20,- 

000 per year 180,000 

$5,190,540 
Average per year... $576,726. 66f 

No. 4. American and foreign 
goods brought into George- 
town $3,505,000 

Items as follows : 

Dry Goods $1,500,000 

Groceries and Hardware 1,500,000 

Lumber 200,000 

Wood 125,000 

Anthracite Coal 75,000 

Bituminous Coal 5,000 

Domestic Produce 100,000 

$3,505,000 



122 COMMERCE. 

No. 5. Tonnage engaged in trade per annum : 
Average tonnage arriving from for- 
eign ports 1,290 tons. 

Departing to foreign ports 2,868 " 

Arriving coastwise with merchandise, 60,000 " 

Lumber trade 30,000 " 

Coal and wood 60,000 " 

Otheritems 16,000 " 



170,158 tons. 



By returns during the year 1835, of the officer su- 
pervising the coasting trade to Georgetown, it appears 
there were near three thousand arrivals, whose ton- 
nage was a fraction less than two hundred thousand 
tons. 

Many of our citizens remember the ships, Eagle and 
Shenandoah, which sailed regularly to Europe loaded 
with tobacco, and brought in return cargoes of salt. 
In course of time our ships went the way of all ships 
— by being stranded at sea, and our noble town felt 
the great loss of the vessels that were wont to unload 
at our wharves, amid the shouts of the boatmen and 
songs of the sailors. 

A number of enterprising citizens afterwards pur- 
chased four ships named the Francis Depau, South- 
erner, Caledonia, and Catherine Jackson. They made 
their appearance in our harbor, in the summer and au- 
tumn of 1836, and after making several voyages to 
Europe, were finally sold as being too large for our 
commerce. Our merchants, then engaged in the 
coasting trade, having a number of vessels sailing to 
Boston, Newburyport, New York, and other cities, 



COMMERCE. 123 

carrying away large quantities of flour and produce, 
brought down the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, which 
extends into the interior of Maryland. Others ex- 
tended their commerce to the "West Indies, and had 
large quantities of sugar and productions of the West 
Indies brought in every few months, and sold upon 
the wharves at public sale. In course of time the 
sailing packets passed away, and we have, in their 
place, steamers plying between our town, Baltimore, 
K"ew York, Philadelphia, and Norfolk, which always 
arrive heavily loaded with freight, and carry away in 
return, cargoes of flour. 

The heaviest trade carried on, at this time, is in the 
article of coal. Thousands of boat-loads of coal ar- 
rive at our town by way of the canal from Cumber- 
land, which is shipped in vessels to distant ports, and 
is largely used by the ocean steamers and manufactur- 
ing establishments. The river is frequently covered 
with vessels with their forests of masts reaching to- 
wards the sky, awaiting their turn to be loaded with 
coal, before sailing to a distant clime. 

The town is so located, that the Potomac River has 
a fall of thirty-three feet, within four miles, from the 
Little Falls to the canal basin; and the canal flowing 
through the town (having the same fall) to the river, 
renders its banks desirable for milling purposes. The 
consequence is, we have a number of merchant mills 
in our town, located on the canal, propelled by water 
power. 

The first is the mill of David L. Shoemaker ; sec- 
ond, F. L. Moore; third, Beall & Shoemaker; fourth, 



124 COMMERCE. 

"William H. Tenney & Son ; fifth, James S. "Welch ; 
sixth, George Shoemaker ; seventh, Ross Ray & Bro. ; 
eighth, A. H. Herr, at the foot of the market, and 
George Hill, Jr.'s Paper Mill. The flour mills will 
shell out from one hundred and fifty to three hundred 
barrels of flour per day. Besides these, we have other 
mills in the neighborhood of the town, as the Lock 
Mill on the canal, and about two miles above town is 
Lyons' Mill, and the Columbian Mill, located on Rock 
Creek, all of which are supplied with grain brought 
down the canal or by vessels from a distance. 

The flour and produce trade has become one of great 
importance in our town, and the most of our mer- 
chants are engaged in that line of business. There 
was a time, many years past, when the wholesale gro- 
cery business occupied nearly all the warehouses on 
"Water Street. Our merchants attended the cargo 
sales of groceries in New York, where they purchased 
supplies for the District market. These groceries were 
brought to Georgetown in the sailing packets, that 
plied regularly between New York and our town, and 
were sold to the retail dealers in the District — embrac- 
ing Washington and Georgetown. A large and ex- 
pensive business was done in this way, until the rail- 
road was constructed between Washington and Balti- 
more, in the year 1835, when our retail dealers be- 
gan going to Baltimore and New York to purchase 
their supplies, instead of looking to our Water Street 
merchants ; in this way the wholesale grocery busi- 
ness of Georgetown declined, while the flour and pro- 
duce trade has taken its place. 



COMMERCE. 125 

The quantity of flour inspected in our town has 
reached three hundred thousand barrels per year, all 
of which was transported down the canal, or manu- 
factured at our merchant mills. 

Our principal flour inspector was George Shoe- 
maker, who was elected annually on the first Monday 
in January, in each and every year. He served the 
town faithfully in that office for forty-nine years, until 
his death in July, 1865. By his sound judgment in 
the grades of flour, he raised the Georgetown brands 
to such a degree, that the flour, with his inspection, 
was demanded in all the markets of the country. 

In May, 1868, James A. Magruder, being then the 
collector of the port of Georgetown, addressed a letter 
to the then commissioner of public buildings, in ref- 
erence to the channel of the river and custom-house 
business. He says : 

" The tonnage of vessels belonging to this District 
is twenty-two thousand four hundred and fifty-five 
and eighty-eight one hundredths tons. The number of 
vessels entered for the past year, is three hundred and 
seventy-three ; number of vessels cleared, for the same 
time, is two hundred and five." He further says: 
"You cannot judge of the amount of business done 
in this District from the number of vessels entered 
and cleared ; for vessels' in the coasting trade are not 
required to enter or clear at the custom-house, unless 
they have foreign goods, or distilled spirits on board. 
I suppose there are at least twenty vessels arriving 
here, which do not enter or clear, for each one that 
has to do so." 

17 



126 ALEXANDRIA AQUEDUCT. 

A charter for the construction of the Alexandria 
Aqueduct and canal was passed by Congress on the 
26th day of May, 1830, giving the company power 
to construct an aqueduct across the Potomac River, 
and excavate a canal to Alexandria. The work was 
begun in 1833 and completed by the 4th of July, 1843, 
when the water was turned into the aqueduct. The 
construction of two abutments and eight piers of stone, 
built upon the rock of the river at a great depth below 
the surface, was a triumph of engineering skill, not 
surpassed by any similar work in the country. 

It was decided by the engineers in charge of the 
work, that the aqueduct should consist of eight piers 
one hundred and five feet apart at high water mark; 
two of the piers to be twenty-one feet thick, and the 
others twelve feet thick at high water mark ; the south- 
ern abutment to be twenty-one feet thick, with circular 
wing walls thirteen feet average thickness at the base, 
sixty-six feet in length, to connect with the slope walls 
of the causeway. Each of the piers have an ice 
breaker upon the up-stream end in form of an oblique 
cone, sloping forty-five degrees, extending five feet 
below and ten feet above high water mark, made of 
cut granite ; the down-stream ends to be circular, and 
to have a slops the same as the sides, one inch to the 
foot. Upon this plan each pier was erected. 

The first cofier-dam constructed was built in a depth 
of eighteen feet of water and seventeen feet four 
inches of mud, being the second from the Virginia 
shore. The figure of the dam was a parallelogram, 
eighty-two feet long by twenty-seven feet wide. The 



ALEXANDRIA AQUEDUCT. 127 

inner row of piles were of white oak, forty feet long 
and sixteen inches in diameter at the larger end, shod 
with iron pointed with "steel, weighing twenty-five 
pounds. They were placed four feet apart from center 
to center, and driven to the rock with a ram weigh- 
ing seventeen hundred pounds. The outer row of 
piles, fifteen feet from and parallel with the inner row, 
was also of oak, thirty-six feet long and sixteen inches 
in diameter. After the dam was constructed puddling 
clay was thrown in between the two rows of piles and 
well rammed to make the dam tight ; then the steam- 
engine was used for pumping the water and excavat- 
ing the mud. Seventeen feet of water was discharged 
by two pumps in four hours and thirty-two minutes. 
After a large portion of the mud was removed, a 
break would frequently occur ; and a dam has been 
known to fill more than a dozen times before succeed- 
ing in reaching the rock of the river. It was a spec- 
tacle so unusual to see men busily at work so far 
below the surface of the river, that it was an exceed- 
ingly interesting sight to the public ; but to the engin- 
eer, whatever might be his confidence in the ability of 
the dam to resist the immense weight which he knew 
to be constantly pressing upon it, the sight was one 
calculated to fill his mind with anxiety. The ice 
breaker at the head of each pier is of cut granite, the 
two lower courses, being five feet below high water 
mark, were twenty-two inches thick, and no stone 
being less in size than twenty cubic feet. The piers 
were erected to the height of twenty-nine feet above 
high water mark. After the piers were erected, then 



128 ALEXANDKIA AQUEDUCT. 

came the work of removing the dams, which was 
easily done by the steam-engine in drawing fifty piles 
a day. 

To describe the construction of each dam and pier 
separately, would fill a volume. It is sufficient to say 
that the modus operandi of construction was the same 
in all, until the piers and abutments were erected to 
the required altitude above the surface of the river. 
If it had not been for the United States, probably 
this work never would have been completed. Con- 
gress, by an act passed June 2oth, 1832, gave one 
hundred thousand dollars towards this work, and, by a 
subsequent act passed March 3d, 1837, gave three 
hundred thousand dollars more. The whole cost of 
the aqueduct was six hundred thousand dollars, the 
canal five hundred thousand dollars, and the locks at 
Alexandria fifty thousand dollars. 

The original plan of the aqueduct was to be all of 
stone, consisting of twelve arches supported by eleven 
piers and two abutments, the arches to be one hund- 
red feet span and twenty-five feet rise ; but, the im- 
mense cost being beyond the means of the company, 
it was abandoned, and a wooden superstructure for 
the trunk of the aqueduct substituted. 

Several ingenious plans used in the country were 
duly considered. Benjamin F. Miller, the master- 
carpenter and superintendent of the work, invented a 
model, which, having been tested in the presence of 
the directors and board of engineers, was adopted; 
and all the timber used in the construction was sub- 
jected to "Kyan's Process" for preserving timber. 



ALEXANDRIA AQUEDUCT. 129 

The length of the wooden trunk is eleven hunched 
feet ; its width, from timber to timber, twenty-eight 
feet ; width of trough, seventeen feet ; width of tow- 
path, five feet, and depth of trough, seven feet. 

Major Turnbull, who was the principal engineer in 
charge of the work, says : 

" "When I reflect upon the numerous difficulties 
which we have overcome in the progress of the work, 
and recall the disheartening predictions of that numer- 
ous portion of the community who looked upon the 
attempt to establish foundations at so great a depth 
and in a situation so very exposed and dangerous, and 
who did not fail to treat it as an absurdity, I cannot 
but congratulate myself upon having so happily suc- 
ceeded; and, while so doing, I recollect, with a very 
grateful sense of what I owe them for it, the very 
generous confidence which the president and direct- 
ors of the company always reposed in me ; and I re- 
call with pleasure and admiration the unhesitating 
promptness with which they always seconded me — 
bringing to my aid their own spirit of zealous perse- 
verance, backed by all the disposable means of the 
company.'"' 

The aqueduct being completed, and thought to be 
durable, was in use as a public highway from July 4, 
1843, to May 23, 1861, when the United States took 
possession of the same, drew off the water, and con- 
verted the aqueduct into a bridge for the transportation 
of troops and munitions of war. It was used also as 
a road for common travel by the public (without pay- 
ing any toll) until after the close of the war, when it 



130 WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT. 

was surrendered by the United States to the aqueduct 
company, but in such a dilapidated condition that it 
would hold neither wind nor water. The consequence 
was, the company was not able to repair the struc- 
ture, and made a lease of the same to Henry H. Wells, 
Philip Quigly, and William W. Duncan for ninety- 
nine years, on condition that the said lessees should 
rebuild the aqueduct and erect over the same a bridge, 
suitable for railway or common travel, and collect 
tolls for crossing the same. A new aqueduct was im- 
mediately rebuilt after July 27, 1868, out of North 
Carolina timber. It has now been ten years since it 
was reconstructed, and, from present appearances, it 
will have to be rebuilt again to hold water and sustain 
the weight of travel. 

This was an unfortunate investment for Alexandria 
— the sinking of one million one hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars — when, if she had constructed a set 
of locks, four in number, at Georgetown, to lock boats 
into the river, then tow them to Alexandria by steam 
tugs and back again to Georgetown, the expense 
would have been a bagatelle compared to the cost of 
the canal and aqueduct. 

WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT. 

Before beginning to write a sketch of the Washington 
Aqueduct, it will be well to examine into the history 
of water-works and see what other cities have done in 
days gone by. We extract from the c3 T clopsedia that, 
" the Pools of Solomon, near Bethlehem, were three 
large reservoirs connected with each other, from which 



WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT. 131 

water was conveyed to Jerusalem, six miles distant. 
One of these pools was five hundred and eighty-two 
feet long, and a hundred and eighty feet wide. Jeru- 
salem is still supplied with water from them. In Eg^pt 
and Babylonia, similar works were constructed in very 
early ages. Enough remains of the ancient aqueduct of 
Carthage to show that it was one of the most remark- 
able of these great works. Upon it, the waters from 
the mountains were conveyed through an arched con- 
duit six feet wide, and four feet deep. The whole 
length was seventy miles. The Romans exceeded all 
other nations, ancient or modern, in the construction 
of these works. There were nine different aqueducts 
which brought into the city daily, twenty-eight million 
cubic feet of pure water. Strabo says : ' that whole 
rivers flowed through the streets of Rome.' It is es- 
timated that fifty million cubic feet of water . must 
have been supplied daily to a population of one 
million, or three hundred and twelve imperial gal- 
lons to each individual." The Croton Aqueduct of 
ISTew York surpasses all modern constructions of this 
kind in extent and magnificence. It was completed 
in 1842 ; having been five years in building, under the 
superintendence of Mr. John B. Jervis, chief engi- 
neer. The whole expense was twelve million five 
hundred thousand dollars. The entire length is, from 
its source to Fifth Avenue, forty and one-half miles. 
On this line are sixteen tunnels, having a length of 
six thousand eight hundred and forty-one feet, cut 
through rock. A dam constructed across the Croton 
River, raised the water forty feet, and formed the Cro- 



132 WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT. 

ton Lake which covers about four hundred acres ; and 
with a depth of six feet of water, contains five hund- 
red million gallons. 

Having given a sketch of other water-works, we 
will now turn our attention to the one in which we 
are more directly interested : 

The "Washington Aqueduct was begun November 8, 
1853, under the administration of Franklin Pierce, 
President of the United States. The names of the 
engineers who designed and built the works, are 
Montgomery C. Meigs, captain of engineers; Alfred 
L. Rives, William H. Bryan, C. Crozet, C. G. Talcott, 
"William H. Hatton, E. T. D. Myers, Silas Seymour, 
J. James R. Croes, and Theodore B. Samo, civil engi- 
neers ; Nathaniel Michler, and George IT. Ellicott, ma- 
jors of engineers; Orville E. Babcock, colonel of en- 
gineers, now chief engineer of the Washington Aque- 
duct. The source of supply is the Potomac River 
above the Great Falls. In 1853, the estimated cost 
of the work was two million three hundred thousand 
dollars, and is yet unfinished ; but the actual expend- 
itures for all purposes from 1853 to 1876 is three mil- 
lion seven hundred and twenty-eight thousand two 
hundred and sixty-seven dollars. The cost of mainte- 
nance of works, including engineering, superinten- 
dence and repairs, is fifteen thousand dollars. The 
population of Washington and Georgetown being one 
hundred and forty-six thousand, the quantity of water 
used by the citizens and departments of the Govern- 
ment, is twenty-three million gallons in twenty-four 
hours. The steam pump supplies the reservoir on 



WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT. 133 

Georgetown heights with one million gallons daily. 
The conduit of the Washington Aqueduct is circular 
in section — nine feet in the interior diameter. It is 
twelve miles long, with a fall of nine and one-half 
inches to one mile. The engine for propelling water 
to the reservoir on the heights of Georgetown, is a 
Knowles & Libbey Engine, which is under the control 
of the "Water Registrar of the District of Columbia. 
There are two reservoirs, the receiving and distribut- 
ing. The receiving reservoir, covering fifty-one acres, 
is a natural basin formed by building an earthen dam 
across the valley of Powder Mill Branch, and is sel- 
dom used. The distributing reservoir covers forty- 
four acres, and is nearly a rectangle in form, built by 
excavating clay from its bottom and forming embank- 
ments thereof; the inner faces of which are protected 
by a slope wall of dry rubble masonry, generally one 
foot thick, laid on a bed of small broken stone six 
inches in depth. The pipes laid through Georgetown 
and Washington are cast-iron, from 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 
20, 30, 36, and 48 inches in diameter. Pipes laid in 
1858, and taken up in 1875, were found to be in a good 
condition. There are six hundred and seventy-four 
hydrants for fires ; the McClelland pattern, made in 
Washington, is generally used, and has taken the place 
of nearly all others. Stop-cocks of various kinds have 
been used. The stop-cocks manufactured in Troy, 
New York, have the preference. Those used on the 
thirty-six-inch main were manufactured by the ISForris 
Iron Company, of Pennsylvania. The workmanship 
is considered first-class. About thirtv meters of va- 

18 



134 WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT. 

rious patterns have been used for experimenting on 
the flow of water in the aqueduct for the purpose of as- 
certaining the amount consumed (but not for ascertain- 
ing the discharge of the conduit), nearly all of which 
have been abandoned as failures. Of late years, the 
quantity of water consumed has been ascertained by 
shutting the conduit off from the distributing reser- 
voir, and recording the height of the surface of water 
every hour, for forty-eight hours. The amount of 
water consumed is about twenty-three million gallons 
in twenty-four hours. 

There have been no difficulties in the construction 
of the water-works from the beginning. The last 
three miles of the conduit have been, and are now run 
under a head. Where built on an embankment, leaks 
have occurred, which have been repaired with hydrau- 
lic cement, and the embankments strengthened by 
widening and raising them. Since this was done, 
there have been no leaks, although the lower end of 
the conduit is run under a head between three and 
four feet. 

There are twelve tunnels on the line of the Wash- 
ington Aqueduct. Tunnel No. 1, is one thousand four 
hundred and thirty-eight feet in length ; No. 2, three 
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five feet; No. 3, 
eighty-six feet; No. 4, seven hundred and sixty-six 
feet ; No. 5, ninety feet ; No. 6, eighty-eight feet ; No. 

7, six hundred and seventy-five feet five inches; No. 

8, four hundred and twenty-one feet nine inches ; No. 

9, seven hundred and twenty-five feet ; No. 10, eighty 
six feet ; No. 11, six hundred and twenty-six feet ; No. 



WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT. 135 

12, dalecarlia, eight hundred feet. The number of 
bridges are six. The span of No. 1, is fourteen feet; 
No. 2, ten feet; No. 3, seventy-five feet; No. 4, two 
hundred and twenty feet; No. 5, one hundred and 
twenty feet ; No. 6, two hundred feet. The first four 
bridges are constructed of cut stone ; the two last of 
iron pipes. The cost of bridge No. 1, was four thou- 
sand and six dollars ; No. 2, seven thousand seven 
hundred and seventy-nine dollars ; No. 3, seventy-six 
thousand and sixty- eight dollars; No. 4, two hundred 
and thirty-seven thousand dollars. Bridges No. 4, 
over Cabin John's Run, and No. 6, over Rock Creek, 
have been much admired. Their elevation and plans 
have been published in the scientific journals of Eu- 
rope. Both bridges are new among engineering struc- 
tures. The Cabin John Bridge being the widest stone 
arch in existence ; and the Rock Creek Bridge being 
the only one in which the arched-ribs are utilized to 
convey the water supply for a city, and at the same 
time, to support a roadway. The length of the line 
of the Washington Aqueduct is eighteen miles, and 
the number of culverts twenty-six. Over the conduit 
is one of the best roads in the country, being mac- 
adamized, over which there is a large amount of 
travel by farmers living in the surrounding neigh- 
borhood, who use this road in hauling their produce 
to market. It is, also, a pleasant drive in the sum- 
mer season, when a large number of our citizens avail 
themselves of the opportunity of visiting the Great 
Falls of the Potomac, to fish in the rolling tide, or 
view the swelling hills and sunken valleys of Vir- 



136 WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT. 

ginia, and the course of the rivulets from the unbro- 
ken plain. 

The Aqueduct Bridge over Rock Creek, was con- 
structed upon two iron mains forty-eight inches in di- 
ameter, springing from two abutments on either side 
of the stream, and are used for the purpose of convey- 
ing water from the aqueduct into the city of "Wash- 
ington. 

By an act of Congress, passed May 17th, 1862, the 
"Washington k Georgetown Railroad Company was cre- 
ated, and authorized to construct and lay a double 
track in the cities of Washington and Georgetown, 
along the following avenues and streets : " Com- 
mencing on Bridge Street at the intersection of High 
Street, thence along the said Bridge Street to its inter- 
section with the street running to the Tubular Bridge 
over Rock Creek to Pennsylvania Avenue in the city 
of Washington, along said avenue to Fifteenth Street 
west, &c." The bridge was completed in 1862, and 
was immediately used as a general thoroughfare for 
street cars and wagons of all descriptions. The rail- 
road company claimed to have authority for the use 
of this bridge, from the portion of the law above quoted 
(but it was used as a bridge of common travel during 
the war by the public, on account of the demand for 
passage way and the K Street Bridge not being in a 
good condition for travel), until an act of Congress, 
passed on the 3d of March, 1875, " gave authority to 
the chief engineer of the Washington Aqueduct, to 
notify the railroad company to remove their rails from 
the Tubular Bridge over Rock Creek, within one year 



WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT. 137 

from the date of said notice ; and the engineer may es- 
tablish and publish regulations prohibiting the pas- 
sage of heavy loaded wagons and carriages'over said 
bridge." The street cars and heavy carriages now 
pass over the M Street Bridge, but it is evident that 
the travel over the Tubular Bridge is as great as be- 
fore the act of Congress passed, judging from the num- 
ber of vehicles sometimes crowded upon the bridge. 
It should be restricted to foot passengers and light 
carriages. 

Great complaint has been made, particularly in the 
summer, when the weather was warm and the dry sea- 
son had set in, that the water flowing from the Great 
Falls through the conduit, was affected by impurities 
which gave it the oder and taste of fish, and it was the 
prevailing opinion that the offensiveness proceeded 
from fish in a state of decomposition in the reservoirs 
and pipes. To cure this difficulty, the mains and pipes 
were frequently flushed, but this did not remove the 
peculiar oder and taste, and it was the opinion of the 
chief engineer, that the impurities of the water were 
not due to the fish, either in the reservoirs or pipes. It 
has been generally supposed that the fishy taste of the 
water in time of a drought, was owing to a green moss 
generating inside of the reservoirs, which imparted a 
peculiar taste and oder to the water. "When rain was 
plentiful, the fishy oder and taste suddenly disap- 
peared. 

As we have given the acts of Assembly of Mary- 
land, also the acts of Congress relating to the town, 
we will now give the acts of Congress in reference to 



138 WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT. 

the construction of the Washington Aqueduct, which 
will be of use to the general reader and especially to 
the members of the Washington Bar : 

The first enactment of Congress in relation to this 
work, is found in volume 10, Statues at Large, p. 92 ; 
approved April 30th, 1852. The second, in vol. 10, 
p. 206; approved March 3d, 1853, giving one hund- 
red thousand dollars. The third, in vol. 10, p. 664; 
approved March 3d, 1855, giving two hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars. The fourth, in vol. 11, p. 86 ; 
approved August 18th, 1856, giving two hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars. The fifth, in vol. 11, p. 225 ; 
approved March 3d, 1857, giving one million dollars. 
The sixth, in vol. 11, p. 256; approved March 3d, 
1857. This act surrenders to the United States cer- 
tain machinery, bricks, and materials. The seventh, 
in vol. 11, pp. 263, 264, and 2.65, for the purpose of 
acquiring land for the aqueduct. The eighth, in vol. 

11, p. 323; approved June 12th, 1858, giving eight 
hundred thousand dollars to complete the works. The 
ninth, in vol. 11, p. 435; approved March 3d, 1859, 
transfers the control of the Washington Aqueduct to 
the Department of the Interior. The tenth, in vol. 

12, p. 106; approved June 25th, 1860, giving four 
million dollars. The eleventh, in vol. 12, pp. 405, 
406, and 407; which refers to the Corporation of 
Georgetown especially, in which all the citizens are 
interested. The twelfth, in vol. 12, p. 620 ; the thir- 
teenth, in vol. 12, pp. 804 and 805 ; the fourteenth, 
in vol. 13, p. 384 ; the fifteenth, in vol. 13, pp. 133 
and 134; the sixteenth, in vol. 14, p. 316; the seven- 



WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT. 



139 



teenth, in vol. 14, p. 374; the eighteenth, in vol. 14, 
p. 464 ; the nineteenth, in vol. 14, p. 466 ; the twen- 
tieth, in vol. 14, p. 464 ; the twenty-first, in vol. 15, 
p. 118 ; the twenty-second, in vol. 15, p. 174 ; the 
twenty-third, in vol. 15, p. 309 ; the twenty-fourth, in 
vol. 16, p. 276; the twenty-fifth, in vol. 16, pp. 301 
and 302 ; the twenty-sixth, in vol. 16, p. 505. See also 
an act of the Legislature of the District of Columbia, 
approved July 20th 1871, appropriating four hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Catholic Trinity Church — Presbyterian Church — St. John's 
Episcopal Church— Christ Episcopal Church — Methodist 
Episcopal Church — Methodist Protestant Church — German 
Lutheran Church — Baptist Church — Colored Churches. 

It is difficult to write a sketch of a church when no 
record has been kept of the events surrounding it, by 
which a brief history might be written. The informa- 
tion imparted to the chronicler concerning the old 
church edifice, was given to him by Rev. J. S. Sum- 
ner, editor of the College Journal. It appears that the 
first entry on the records of Trinity Church is of a 
marriage April 6, 1795 ; the first baptism recorded is 
of May 14th, of the same year. These are signed by 
Rev. Francis Neale, S. J., the first pastor of Trinity 
Church, and indicate the period at which the church 
was used for worship. Tbe lot was purchased by 
Bishop Carroll, some years previously, and the church 
erected by contributions from people of the adjoining 
counties. Alexander Doyle seems to have erected the 
building, putting in his own means in addition to the 
contributions from others. The college virtually owned 
the church, and still continues to hold it. Mr. Doyle 
made an arrangement with the college by which the 
debt of the church to him was extinguished, namely, 
by contracting for the education of his sons at the col- 
lege ; the whole embracing a term of years. When 



CATHOLIC TRINITY CHURCH. 141 

the last one left there was still an unexpired term due 
his estate, and the college paid his executor the bal- 
ance. The old church was frequently used by the col- 
lege to hold the annual commencements, until 1832, 
when the college had erected a new building for that 
purpose. The old church has lately been remodeled 
to make room for Trinity Church Sabbath School. 
The school room is a tine hall on the first floor of the 
building extending its entire length and breadth, with 
seats for six hundred pupils. On the upper floor are 
class rooms for the parish school. The parish school 
connected with the church is in a most flourishing condi- 
tion, and should be encouraged, so that its influence 
may extend in doing good, oy educating the children of 
the poor and making them useful members of society, 
that they may become an honor to their parents and a 
blessing to the community. 

The new Trinity Church fronts west, like Solo- 
mon's Temple. The ■ corner-stone was laid in 1849, 
when Rev. James Ryder preached a most eloquent 
sermon. The church was dedicated on Sunday, 15th 
clay of June, 1851 (the chronicler was present), when 
Doctor Ryder again preached a very impressive dis- 
course from the II Chronicles ; his text was : " The 
appearance of the Lord in a dream unto Solomon at 
the completion of the temple ; " and then came a faith- 
ful description of what a true worshiper of the Saviour 
ought to be, and which, to our mind, was never more 
faithfully portrayed. There was present, on the occa- 
sion, a large company collected from far and near, 
consisting of all classes and denominations, among 

19 



142 CATHOLIC TRINITY CHURCH. 

them many Protestants desirous of seeing the imposing 
ceremonies and solemn services. The clergy, all attired 
in their proper vestments and bearing the holy cross, 
marched up one of the aisles of the church sprinkling 
the holy water with hyssop, and, upon arriving at the 
altar, Hay den's Mass was sung and chanted by the 
choir. The procession then passed through the aisles 
again sprinkling the holy water ; the music was supe- 
rior to anything of the kind ever heard in our town at 
church dedications. 

The pastors who have filled the pulpit of Trinity 
Church are as follows : the Rev. Francis Neale took 
charges of the church in 1792, and was followed by his 
assistant, Rev. Charles L. Thoux, in 1818 ; then came 
the Rev. Stephen Dubuisson, James F. M. Lucas, 
Philip A. Sacchi, Peter P. Ivroes, Peter O'Flanagan, 
up to the year 1852. In that year Rev. Joseph Asch- 
wanden became rector, taking control of the new 
church erected in 1849-'50. In 1856, he was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. Anthony Ciampi, who, after a year's 
incumbency, gave place to Rev. Thomas Mulledy. In 
1858, Rev. Joseph Aschwander returned and remained 
pastor until his death in 1868. The Rev. Hippolyte 
Gache entered upon his duties as rector in 1868. He 
built a pastoral residence near the church, and was 
followed, two years later, by Rev. Charles H. Stone- 
street, who governed the parish until 1 874. Next came 
Rev. John B. DeWolf, who, in 1876 and 1877, made an 
addition to the church to accommodate the male paro- 
chial school, which, for several years, had occupied 
premises opposite. The Rev. John J. Murphy, S. J., 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 143 

succeeded DeWolf in 1877. The pastors of Trinity 
Church lived at Georgetown College until the Eev. 
Mr. Gache built the pastoral residence. They have 
all been men of distinction. Lately the Rev John J. 
Murphy resigned his charge of the church, and the 
Eev. Anthony Ciampi has again returned to preside 
over the congregation. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

[History prepared from the records of the church, by Rev. 
R. T. Berry, pastor, September 8, 1848.] 

" According to the inscription on the tablet, on the 
right as you enter the north door of this edifice, the 
gospel was first planted in this town, and this church 
was founded, by the Eev. Stephen Bloomer Balch, 
D. D., who was for fifty-two years its revered pastor, 
and whose remains lie beneath the tablet alluded to. 
As the history of this congregation is identified with 
that of this venerable and venerated name, it is natu- 
ral that I should present a succinct biographical sketch 
of the leading events of his life. 

" Doctor Balch was born in Harford County, Mary- 
land, April 7, 1746. In the fall of 1772, he became 
a student of Princeton College, then under the super- 
intendence of the distinguished John Witherspoon, 
D. D., one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. Dr. Balch graduated in 1774, and went 
to Lower Marlborough, Calvert County, Maryland, to 
take charge of an academy. There he remained till 
1778, when he visited the State of Georgia, where he 
studied divinity. In 1780 he was licensed to preach 



144 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

(and probably ordained at the same time as an evan- 
gelist, for he was commissioned by the presbytery to 
travel as a missionary as far north as Georgetown, then 
in the State of Maryland.) Here he commenced his 
ministerial labors ; and soon after his location here he 
opened a classical school, which he taught, with emi- 
nent success, a considerable portion of his life. And 
here I think it worth while to remark, to the credit 
of your Presbyterian fathers, that they were not only 
the pioneers of religion, but of education. This com- 
munity is under great obligation to the Presbyterian 
church for having provided, from its earliest settle- 
ment, the means of a liberal education for its sons. 

" I am under the impression that, from the time of 
the establishment of this first academy, under Dr. 
Balch, down to the period of the lamented death of 
the late Rev. James McVean, there has always existed 
here a school or academy of a high order under the 
care of a Presbyterian minister : first under Dr. Balch, 
then under the Rev. David Wiley, who was succeeded 
by Rev. Dr. James Carnahan, president of Nassau 
Hall, who was followed by Rev. James McVean. 

" According to tradition, Dr. Balch preached his 
first sermon in a little log building on High Street, 
which stood on the site of the Lutheran burying ground. 
The burying ground still remains, but the building 
has long since disappeared. If this tradition be cor- 
rect, it would seem that this Lutheran church had 
been in existence when Dr. Balch first came to this 
place. When it was established, or by whom, I have 
no means of knowing ; if before Dr. Balch came, .it 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 145 

seems to have had no existence as an organized church 
at that time nor since. 

" Subsequently, he is said to have preached for a while 
in a small wooden building, which was used as a school- 
house in the week and as a church on Sundays. It 
stood at the corner of Bridge and Market Streets, 
nearly opposite the market place. It is presumed that 
the number of his hearers must have continued to in- 
crease, and it is probable the congregation began to 
assume something of a settled form soon after this, for 
we find, according to the tablet in front of this build- 
ing, that as early as 1782 a church edifice was erected 
on the site of the present one, which was a small room 
about thirty feet square. As the congregation in- 
creased it became necessary to enlarge the building, 
which was done by extending the north front. This 
occurred in 1793. Soon after the removal of the seat 
of Government to Washington, or about the years 
1801-'2, considerable accessions were made to the 
congregation, and it was necessary still further to en- 
large the church edifice, which was done under the 
immediate superintendence of Dr. JBalch. This sec- 
ond enlargement was made by extending it on the 
west side. This appears from an old plat of the pews 
still in existence. To this improvement, among others, 
Mr. Jefferson, then President of the United States, 
and Albert Gallatin, the Secretary of the Treasury, sub- 
scribed. Mr. Jefferson's subscription was seventy-five 
dollars. I believe at that time it was customary for the 
officers of the Government, when they went to church, 
to attend at this place. General Washington is said 



146 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

to have come from Mount Vernon on one occasion 
to attend divine service in this church. For some 
time it was the church of the District this side of the 
Potomac ; all denominations attended here. Metho- 
dists, Episcopalians, and others, as well as the Presby- 
terians, received the word of God at the mouth of the 
Presbyterian pastor, and communed together at the 
same altar. Such was the liberality that prevailed in 
those days. About the years 1819-'20, the building 
being still found insufficient to accomodate all who 
desired to rent pews, and owing to the additions which 
had been already made, it not being deemed safe, it 
was determined to pull it down and erect another. 
This determination was carried into effect in 1821, 
in the erection of the present spacious, elegant, and 
substantial structure, which has recently been put into 
a state of repair without incurring any debt therefor. 
The repairs of the interior of the church were made 
by the contributions and zealous efforts of the ladies 
of the congregation. 

" Up to the period of the second addition to the 
church, or about the year 1805, Dr. Balch was the 
only Protestant minister in this place. All denomina- 
tions of Christians attended upon his ministry, for he 
was universally respected, and enjoyed the confidence 
of the whole community. This he did without sacra- 
ficing what he believed to be truth and duty, or compro- 
mising his principles as a Presbyterian minister. He 
felt, as all true ministers of Jesus Christ should feel, 
that he was the minister of God to all men for good, 
and not merely to his own fiock. For many years he 






PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 147 

baptized, married, instructed, attended the dying, and 
performed the sad rites of sepulture to the whole 
community. 

" After ' serving his generation by the will of God,' 
he calmly fell asleep, in the eighty-seventh year of his 
life, September 22, 1883, gathered ' as a shock of corn 
cometh in its season.' 

" I shall now proceed to notice such other incidents 
in the history of the church and congregation as are 
of general interest. 

" It has been already intimated that the congrega- 
tion in its beginning was small, consisting, it is said, 
of not more than ten members ; but it was composed 
of the most respectable, intelligent, and worthy citi- 
zens of the community, who were not only the fathers 
of this church, but also the fathers of this town. They 
were, for the most part, of Scotch, German, and Kew 
England extraction. 

" The corporation was not incorporated till 1806. 
Up to that time, it appears its temporal affairs were 
managed by a standing committee of the members ap- 
pointed for that purpose ; at least, this appears to have 
been the case as early as 1802. 

" By certain deeds of that date, the property of the 
grave-yard and adjoining lots was conveyed to 'Rev. 
S. B. Balch, pastor, and Thomas Corcoran, George 
Thompson, William Whann, Jas. Melvin, John Cruik- 
shank, James Calder, Christian Kurtz, John Peter, 
David English, and Henry Knowles, members of the 
Presbyterian congregation of Georgetown, for the ex- 
clusive use' of the Presbyterian Church in Georgetown, 



148 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

adhering to the confession of faith of the Presbyterian 
Church in- the United States of America, and to her 
Presbyteries, synods, and general assemblies.' 

" I have not seen the deed for the lot on which this 
church stands, but it is probable that it contained a 
similar condition ; so that it would seem that the title 
of this congregation to the property held by it depends 
upon their ' adhering to the confession of faith of the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
and to her Presbyteries, synods, and general assem- 
blies.' 

"In 1806, the trustees of the congregation were in- 
corporated by act of Congress ; they were Stephen B. 
Balch, William Whann, James Melvin, John Mafht, 
John Peter, Joshua Dawson, James Calder, Geo. 
Thompson, Richard Elliott, David Wiley, and Andrew 
Ross. 

" To show the changes which the congregation has 
undergone, I find that of those who are recorded as 
having been pew holders from 1805 to 1808, all are 
dead or removed, as far as I can learn, but three. Of 
those recorded as pew holders in 1822, one year after 
the present edifice was erected, all are dead or re- 
moved but fifteen.* From this period on to 1827, 
the congregation seems to have been greatly weak- 
ened by deaths, and removals from town caused by 
the continued decline in the business of the place, 
and other causes; so that, in October, 1823, accord- 
ing to a statement of that date found among the papers, 
there were thirty-four pews and five half pews reported 

*AJter that date ninety-five were recorded as pew holders. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 149 

as vacant; and in 1827, as appears by a report made to 
the board of trustees, by Daniel Bussard, the collector, 
that from ' removals by death, and otherwise,' the 
funds of the trustees from pew rents were lessened by 
the amount of four hundred and forty dollars per an- 
num. The prosperity of the congregation subsequently 
revived ; but these changes in the materiel of the con- 
gregation have continued to take place up to this time. 
Since my connection with it as a pastor, at least one- 
third if not one-half of the congregation have changed 
— that is, at least one-third have been removed by 
death or emigration, and that in the space of about 
nine years. But, while many have thus been removed, 
others have come in to take their places, so that the 
congregation has been enabled to hold its own. And, 
as far as I can gather from its past history, the con- 
gregation is about as numerous and prosperous now 
as it has been, upon an average, at any period since 
the present edifice was erected, for I find there never 
has been a period since its erection when it was filled. 
Ever since it was built, the house has been too larg-e 
for the congregation, and this has been a great disad- 
vantage every way. All are now agreed that a great 
mistake was committed in erecting so large a building 
in so small a community, divided as it is into so many 
different denominations, all provided with places of 
public worship. I believe this house would accommo- 
date pretty comfortably all the church-going people in 
this place. It is true, that when the plan of this edi- 
fice was projected, this congregation was at the height 

of its prosperity, and the town was prosperous and 
20 



150 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

promised to increase. Moreover, the old church was 
not sufficient to accommodate all who at that time 
wished to rent pews in it, and these considerations no 
doubt led your fathers to plan this building on so ex- 
tensive a scale. But it was to be regretted on another 
account : the estimated cost of the building was twenty 
thousand dollars, a burden which, as the result showed, 
was greater than the congregation was able to bear, 
for the walls were scarcely up before the building com- 
mittee had to borrow money to carry on the building. 
This and subsequent loans laid the foundation of a 
debt, under the weight of which the church long stag- 
gered, and from which it has been entirely relieved, 
owing, in great part, to the liberality of its creditors, 
and the exertion of the Rev. John C. Smith, the late 
pastor, only within a few years past. Such debt rested 
as an incubus on the congregation, and was the occa- 
sion of the most disastrous consequences to its pros- 
perity, and, indeed, jeoparded at one time its very ex- 
istence, for, in 1823, a deed of trust, I find, was actu- 
ally given on all its property to secure the payment 
of its debts ; a most painful and humiliating sacrifice 
indeed, but an act of justice for which it deserved 
all honor, for churches, like individuals, should ' owe 
no man anything.' I allude particularly to this part 
of the history of the congregation first, as explaining 
much of the adversity and difficulties with which it 
has had to contend with ; and, second, as a warning 
against church debts, which have been well termed 
church curses. 

" Another cause which, doubtless, tended to weaken 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 151 

this congregation, and retard its growth in times past, 
is found in the fact that the several denominations of 
christians who, in the early history of the church were 
identified with it, and united in its support, at differ- 
ent periods, erected houses of worship for themselves, 
and, of course, retired from this congregation ; thus, 
in 1805, the first Episcopal Church, St. John's, was 
erected ; and it may be mentioned, as a pleasing evi- 
dence of the liberality and good feeling that prevailed 
at that day, that Dr. Balch not only encouraged the 
enterprise, but contributed, along with other Presby- 
terians, to its funds; and this was but right, as the 
Episcopalians had contributed heretofore to the Pres- 
byterian Church. In 1818, the second Episcopal 
Church, Christ Church, was erected. And here it 
ought to be mentioned, as an additional evidence of 
the liberality and good feeling of those times, that 
these two congregations courteously tendered the use 
of their respective churches to each other while their's 
were being erected ; and I find that the pastor of that 
church united with Dr. Balch in the dedication ser- 
vices of this. I will also add that at one time all the 
pastors and their people were in the habit of holding a 
union prayer meeting in their respective churches, 
where they mingled, in christian fellowship and cath- 
olic communion ; their prayers and praises at the altar 
of the author of their " common salvation." In 1828, 
the Methodist Protestant Church was organized, and 
their organization took place in this church. The use 
of this church was also tendered to the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church while the present edifice was in process 



152 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

of erection. Indeed, the Presbyterian Church here 
may be considered in some sort the " mother church " 
of this community, for it preceded all others in point 
of time ; and while the others were without houses of 
their own, they found a welcome asylum here, and en- 
joyed here the ordinances and ministrations of God's 
house. It appears, from this history, that the Presby- 
terian Church here has ever pursued none other than 
a liberal course of conduct towards her younger sisters 
of other denominations, and in this it has but acted in 
the liberal spirit of its Catholic principles towards 
other bodies of christians. 

" Of the church proper — that is, the communicants— 
I have but little to say, for the records of the church 
session were consumed when the house of Dr. Balch 
was burnt; the present records go no further back 
than 1831. Tradition has it that the church was or- 
ganized about the latter part of 1780 ; and at the first 
communion that was celebrated, there were but seven 
members with the pastor. It seems that for a long time 
there was but one ruling elder, viz., James Orme, who 
was the son of the Rev. John Orme, formerly the pas- 
tor of the Presbyterian Church of Upper Marlborough, 
Maryland, which is now extinct. Those who were rul- 
ing elders in this church, besides, at different periods, 
but who are now deceased, were John Peter, James 
Melvin, John Craven, John MeDauiel, Robert Munro, 
John S. ISTevins, William Williamson, Samuel Ha wley, 
and James McVean. 

" The present number of communicants is one hund- 
red and seven, and about seventy families. To show 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 153 

the changes that have taken place in the last nine 
years, there have been added during that period up- 
wards of sixty to the communion of the church, while 
rather more than that number have died or removed ; 
none have apostatized. "Well may we ask, in view of 
these changes — 

' Your fathers, where are they ? 
The prophets, do they live forever?' 

" Having finished our inquiries about your fathers, 
we return upon our path, and ask a little further of 
the prophets who have spoken unto you here the word 
of God. This church has existed sixty-six years; and 
during that period it has had but three installed pas- 
tors : Dr. Balch, who presided fifty-two years; Rever- 
end J. C. Smith, who presided about seven years ; * 
and the present incumbent, about nine years.f Rev- 
erend T. B. Balch assisted his father as minister for 
awhile. In 1822, Reverend R. R. Gurley was invited 
as an assistant minister, and, in 1828, Reverend John 
~N. Campbell, now of Albany. Reverend Dr. Cox 
was invited, in 1829, to become assistant pastor, but 
did not accept the call. I ought, also, to mention that, 
about the time, or soon after the building of this edi- 
fice, an unhappy schism occurred in the church — the 
only one, I believe, that ever afflicted it. A few — 
but those some of the most respectable members — 
withdrew, under the lead of a Rev. Mr. Baldwin. 
They worshiped for a time in the Lancasterian school- 
room, but failing in their effort to organize another 
church, after awhile they melted away. 

♦From 1831 to 1838. f From 1838 to 1848. 



154 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

" It ought also to be mentioned, as a part of the 
history of the church, that during the years 1837-'38 
it was agitated and distracted not a little by the doc- 
trinal and ecclesiastical questions which occasioned 
the schism which occurred in the Presbyterian body 
at that period, and which resulted in the secession 
from the Presbyterian church in the United States of 
America of a considerable number of its ministers and 
members. But this congregation wisely and happily 
determined, to use the language of the deed which I 
have recited, to adhere, as there forefathers did, to the 
confession of faith of the Presbyterian church in the 
United States of America, and to her presbyteries, 
synods and general assemblies, with which it had been 
in communion for half a century ; concluding very 
justly that it was best ' not to meddle with them that 
are given to change,' and that, ' no man having drunk 
old wine straightway desireth new ; for, saith he, the 
old is far better.' " 

APPENDIX. 

"A. — Extract from journal of board of trustees: 
" June 11, 1806. — A report being made of the ex- 
penses incurred in the improvement of the church, and 
a deficiency appearing, Ordered, That tbe members 
individually take the subscription, and get any further 
moneys ; and that Messrs. Maffit and Elliott be a com- 
mittee to superintend the repairing the roof and the 
removal of the pulpit; Messrs. Eoss and Elliott a 
committee to have the plastering measured, and Mr. 
Peter to contract for the washing and cleaning the 
church. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 155 

"August, 1806. — "William Whann, collector of the 
grave-yard, offered to advance the money for the 
painting of the church, to be reimbursed from the 
funds of the grave-yard, to be retained by him as col- 
lector. Agreed to by the board. Messrs. Eoss and 
Melvin, appointed the committee to superintend the 
painting. Mr. Melvin proposed, in conjunction with 
Mr. Balch and Mr. Eoss, to erect a new pulpit, not to 
cost more than fifty dollars, provided the Sunday col- 
lections were pledged for that purpose. Agreed to. 

"April 11, 1807.— Messrs. Elliott and Wiley ap- 
pointed a committee to get the roof of the church 
made tight and have tables and benches made for the 
communion. Funds of the grave-yard pledged to 
Mr. Whann for the money advanced. Mr. McDaniel 
appointed to collect the pew rents. He and Mr. 
Elliott a committee to get doors put on the pews, 
and draw on Mr. Whann for the money. 

PEW HOLDERS IN 1805-8. 

"James Calder, David English, Jonathan Finley, 
Eleanor Curlan, William Knowles, Benjamin Better- 
ton, Clephan & Makie, Joseph Wheaton, Mrs. Tem- 
pleman, Alexander Carmichael, William King, John 
Baltzer, William Thompson, Jasper M. Jackson, 
Christian Kurtz, John Banks, Sarah Cruikshanks, 
Nathan Loughboro', Francis Clarke, Eobert Ober, 
Nicholas Hedges, Richard Elliott, Jeremiah Mosher, 
John Craven, Daniel Eeitzel, Daniel Bussard, Joseph 

Bromley, John Heugh, Francis Dodge, Whet- 

zel, Ezekiel King, John Maffit, Andrew Eoss, William 
Crawford, John Laird, Sarah Suter, Edgar Patterson, 



156 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

James A. Morsel, C. P. Polk, Joshua Dawson, George 
Thompson, Mrs. George French, Thomas Beall (of 
George), David Peter, John Peter, William Whann, 
James Melvin, Jane White, Charles Love, James 
Dunlop, Sr., David Wiley. 

" B. — The first movement towards building a new 
church was made as early as April 21st, 1815, as ap- 
pears from the following resolution of the board, 
adopted at that time : 

" Resolved, That Messrs. Peter, Ross, and McDaniel 
be a committee to make inquiry respecting an eligible 
site for a new church, and, also, of the means of ob- 
taining money for the purchase of the same, and re- 
port at next meeting. 

" This committee reported accordingly at the next 
meeting, and the report was filed. 

"April 3, 1817.— Resolved, That Messrs. Peter, 
English and McDaniel be a committee to ascertain 
what can be obtained by subscription towards building 
a new church. 

" Resolved, That Messrs. Laird, Ross, Whann, and 
Peter be a committee to consider and report a plan 
for a new church. This committee reported April 20, 
1817, a plan of a building — probable cost twenty 
thousand dollars. 

"The committee, to obtain subscriptions, reported that 
little progress had been made, and asked further time. 
On 24th April, 1817, the same committee reported that 
a sufficient sum could not be obtained, and asked to 
be discharged. Report adopted. Messrs. English, 
Peter, and Ross were appointed a committee to keep 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 157 

the subject in view. Messrs. Bussard, McDaniel, and 
English were appointed a committee to provide pews 
for the accommodation of applicants. 

"April 14, 1819. — A committee appointed to ex- 
amine the church reported that it was becoming un- 
safe, and that steps ought to be immediately taken to 
build a new one. 

"June 19, 1819. — Messrs. Thomas B. Beall, Kobert 
Ober, John Kurtz, L. G. Davidson, and John Peter 
were appointed a committee to obtain subscriptions for 
a new church. 

" July 6, 1819. — Messrs. John Laird, Andrew Ross, 
Lewis G. Davidson, and J. Kurtz were appointed a 
building committee, and authorized to contract for the 
same. They accordingly contracted with "William 
Archer to build a church for twenty thousand dollars. 

" Lewis G. Davidson was appointed treasurer of the 
funds for the erection of the new church in 1821. 
The subscription having, in a great measure, failed, 
the building committee were authorized to borrow 
three thousand dollars to carry on the building. This 
amount was advanced by John Laird, deceased. 

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES IN 1821. 

" John Laird, John Peter, William Whann, Daniel 
Bussard, Andrew Ross, Richard Elliott, David Eng- 
lish, James Calder, John McDaniel. 

' ; C. — The Rev. John C. Smith, at that time the pas- 
tor, offered to collect funds to extinguish the debt on 
the church, provided the creditors would relinquish 

one-half of their claims, to which most of them agreed ; 
21 



158 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

and the thanks of the congregation were tendered to 
Mr. Smith for ' his diligent and successful exertions ' 
in accomplishing the object. The principal creditors 
were the heirs of John Laird.* 

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. 

"Pastor's salary, from 1812 to 1825, was one thou- 
sand dollars. In 1825, it was fixed at eight hundred 
dollars.! In 1827, owing to the great falling off of 
the revenue from pew rents (alluded to in the sermon) 
at that time, it was reduced to six hundred dollars. J 
It was subsequently fixed at eight hundred dollars, and 
has so continued to this time; though, in 1834, the 
amount available for the payment of the pastor's sal- 
ary, after paying other expenses, was only six hundred 
and thirty-two dollars and fifty cents, and the balance 
had to be made up by voluntary subscription. || 

TRUSTEES AT THIS TIME (1848). 

" David English, Hon. James Dunlop, John Kurtz, 
Robert Dick, Robert Barnard, William H. Tenney, 
George Bohrer, Marinus Willet, R, S. T. Cissel. 

OFFICERS OF THE CHURCH AT THIS TIME (1848). 

"Ruling Elders: David English, Sr., 0. Z. Mun- 
caster. Deacons: Jacob Ramsburg, Edward Myers. 
Until within a few years past this church was without 
this class of officers, provided for in the constitution 
of the Presbyterian Church; and it appears that, in 
the early history of this congregation, the duties of 

* See Journal of the Board, page 11^. 
f See Journal, pages 37 and 90. 
X See Journal, page 96. 
|| See Journal, page 110. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 159 

this class of officers were performed by a committee 
of the trustees.* 

" There has been, since 1822, and perhaps earlier, a 
Sunday School connected with the church, which was 
held, in 1822, in the Lancasterian school-room, as ap- 
pears from a letter addressed to the trustees, by Miss 
Russell, in behalf of the teachers, requesting that more 
comfortable accommodations might be provided for 
them. Over this school, the late Rev. James McVean 
presided, with eminent ability and success, for more 
than twenty-five years. Its present officers are R. S. 
T. Cissel, superintendent; Samuel H. Howell, secre- 
tary; Jacob Ramsburg, treasurer, and William E. 
Myers, librarian." 

If the destruction of any building in our town was 
to be deplored, it was the tearing down of the old Pres- 
byterian Church, situated at the corner of Washing- 
ington and Bridge Streets. It was most substantially 
built ; and all the brick and wood-work was in as good 
state of preservation as when erected in the year 1821. 
It was a large and noble church, and every way suita- 
ble for the worship of any religious congregation. - It 
was one among the principal landmarks, and attracted 
the attention of all strangers who visited our town, as 
a noble building. Its destruction is to be regretted, 
because it was the only church in that section of the 
town ; and since the Methodist Episcopal Congrega- 

* See Journal, page 13, where, in 1809, Rev. Stephen B. Balch, 
John McDaniel, and Richard Elliott, were appointed a committee to 
distribute what funds may be obtained for the relief of the poor, and 
render their accounts quarterly. There are other entries of subse- 
quent dates to the same effect. 



160 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

tion bad sold their church on Montgomery Street, in 
1850, to the town for a public school, a church was 
more needed in that section of the town than formerly, 
and the reason of its being originally built there, 
was to accommodate the citizens of "Washington and 
Georgetown. If the chronicler had been a wealthy 
citizen, he would have purchased the building and 
dedicated it for religious worship to any congregation, 
and to the meeting of the Sabbath School children of 
our town, where all the schools formerly assembled to 
celebrate the birthday of American liberty ; but as the 
noble edifice is now gone, the chronicler will here give 
an account of various articles found in the corner-stone 
and transferred to the new church on West Street. 

The following are the articles found in the corner- 
stone of Bridge Street Church, and afterwards depos- 
ited in the corner-stone of the new church on "West 
Street, laid in 1873 : 

" Medallion of Washington. Silver quarter of 1820. 
Two silver ten cent pieces of 1820. Five one dollar 
silver pieces of 1818 ; and one of 1820. 

" Statement of the number of inhabitants of George- 
town and Washington: Georgetown, in 1800, two 
thousand nine hundred and ninety-three ; in 1810, four 
thousand nine hundred and forty-eight ; in 1820, seven 
thousand live hundred and nineteen. Washington, 
in 1800, three thousand two hundred and ten ; in 
1810, eight thousand two hundred and eight ; in 1820, 
thirteen thousand four hundred and seventy-four. To- 
tal number of inhabitants of the District in 1820, thirty- 
three thousand five hundred and eighty-nine. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 161 

"Forty years have passed and gone, and but few 
tongues now remain to tell, that on this lot of ground 
a small building was erected for the worship of the 
true and living God, being the first raised in this town. 

"The Rev. Stephen Bloomer Balch setting out to la- 
bor in the vinyard of the Master, was directed to this 
people, then not more than fifteen in number, who 
called for his services, and the congregation was or- 
ganized in connection with the General Assembly of 
the Presbyterian Church in the United States. At the 
first celebration of the Lord's Supper in this house, 
seven persons only made a public profession of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. By this ambassador of Christ, the 
message of reconciliation was preached, and thence 
forward proclaimed with silent success, and the visible 
members of the church militant have greatly increased 
in number. 

" The congregation at the present time (1821) num- 
bers eighty families, and one hundred and nine com- 
municants. They continued under the pastoral care 
of the Reverend Stephen B. Balch, D. D., assisted by 
David English, John McDaniel, and Robert Ober, 
ruling elders. 

" On the 28th day of March, A. D. 1806, the Con- 
gress of the United States passed an act incorporating 
nine persons, under the style and title of the ' Trust- 
ees of the Presbyterian Congregation in Georgetown, 
D. C.,' to whom John Laird, Andrew Ross, John 
Peter, "William "Whann, Richard Elliott, James Calder, 
David English, Daniel Bussard, and John McDaniel, 
are now successors. 



162 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

" To the original building small additions were 
made, which, being found insufficient for the conven- 
ient accommodation of those who attended as wor- 
shippers, and, withal, fast falling to ruin and decay, 
it was determined in general meeting of the congre- 
gation that a suitable house should be erected in its 
place by means of voluntary subscriptions. The erec- 
tion of the contemplated new building was committed 
by the trustees solely to John Laird, Andrew Ross, 
Lewis Grant Davidson, John Kurtz, and Francis 
Dodge, commissioners, who chose William Archer as 
their architect." 

A silver plate, with the following inscription carved 
upon it, was deposited in the corner-stone of the Pres- 
byterian Church, laid April 6, 1821 : 

" This corner-stone of the Presbyterian Church was 
laid on the 6th day of April, 1821, Anno Mundi 5821, 
and in the forty-fifth year of the Independence of the 
United States of America, by William Hewitt, M. W. 
G. M. of Freemasons in the District of Columbia ; 
James Monroe, President of the United States ; John 
Peter, Mayor of Georgetown, District of Columbia ; 
Rev. Stephen B. Balch, pastor; David English, John 
McDaniel, Robert Ober, ruling elders; John Laird, 
Andrew Ross, John Kurtz, Lewis G. Davidson, Fran- 
cis Dodge, commissioners for erecting the building." 

A silver plate, with the following, was deposited in 
the corner-stone of West Street Church with contents 
of the old stone : 

" Building moved from corner of Bridge and Wash- 
ington Streets to this place June, 1873. U. S. Grant, 



st. john's episcopal church. 163 

President of the United States; Henry D. Cooke, 
Governor of the District of Columbia ; S. H. Howe, 
pastor ; George W. Beall, B. K. Mayfield, C. F. Peck, 
A. Young, W. H. Hougal, J. Ramsburg, S. H. Howell, 
elders; J. S. Blackford, Joseph Williamson, C. S. 
Eamsburg, deacons ; "W. H. Dougal, F, L. Moore, "W". 
W. Winship, M. V. Buckey, W. W. Curtis, R. Brace, 
Thomas Harrison, C. M. McGowan, James Goddard, 
trustees." 

st. john's episcopal church. 

[A historical account of the church, by Rev. C. M. Bntler, 
rector, October 17, 1843.] 



" The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad." — 

Psalm cxxvi, 3. 

"This grateful exclamation of the Psalmist, my 
brethren, becomes us on this occasion. After more 
than four months intermission of our services, we are 
permitted, by the good providence of God, to meet 
again as a congregation in our enlarged, improved, 
and beautified edifice. 

" Gratitude to God that he has enabled us to bring 
this good work to completion, should fill our hearts. 
To the zeal of the vestry, who, feeling the necessity 
of larger accommodations for the stability and sup- 
port of the church and for the spiritual wants of the 
community, suggested the enlargement of the build- 
ing to the congregation ; to the ready response of the 
congregation to the appeal of the vestry, with a large, 
Christian, self-denying liberality worthy of all com- 
mendation, manifested by a subscription for the object 
which, taking into consideration the number and 



164 ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

means of the contributors, is seldom equalled in 
amount — to the skill of the gentleman * who furnished 
the plan for the enlargement of the building ; to the 
liberality and labor of the ladies of the congregation, 
who procured and prepared the furniture of the pulpit, 
desk and chancel ; to the unwearied and faithful dili- 
gence of the building committee,! and, I may add, to 
the successful efforts of the builder J to render the 
edifice complete and commodious — to these, under 
God, do we owe it, that we are permitted to meet this 
morning, none of our number lost by death, in our 
pleasant and beautified sanctuary, hallowed by many 
sacred associations, and to realize ' how amiable are 
thy tabernacles, thou Lord of Hosts ! ' Brethren, if 
our love be as large as our mercies, and our lives ex- 
press in any good degree the gratitude which we owe, 
we shall be a devoted people. 

" A sketch of the history of this church will show 
that the Lord hath indeed done great things for us, 
whereof it becomes us to be glad ! 

4i The records in possession of the church of its past 
history are very few and imperfect. Such as remain 
have been collected with great care, and re-written 
with much labor by a member of the vestry,|| to whose 
zeal and industry I am indebted for fair copies of 

* Captain George F. De la Koche, engineer and draughtsman in 
the Navy Department. 

f Messrs. L. Thomas, A. H. Marbury, and John Waters. 

X Matthias Duffey, contractor. 

|| Mr. John H. Offley. Besides the papers here referred to, 
others, it is believed, are in existence ; and it is much to be regret- 
ted that the efforts made to procure them have failed, as they are 
supposed to be most interesting. 



st. John's episcopal church. 165 

every remaining paper having reference to the history 
of the church which is in its possession. Instead of 
the connected and minute detail which would be in- 
teresting if it were in my power to furnish it, I can 
give but scattered and unconnected notices of the past 
history of the church, gathered from those incomplete 
records which remain, and from conversation with the 
Reverend Mr. Addison, for many years the respected 
rector of the parish, and with some of the older citi- 
zens of the place. 

" It is a pleasing circumstance with which to com- 
mence our reminiscences, that the first movement 
towards establishing an Episcopal Church in this place 
was made by the Reverend Mr. Addison, with the 
concurrence and assistance of the Reverend Dr. Balch, 
a Presbyterian clergyman, whose memory is still 
warmly cherished in this community. The Reverend 
Mr. Addison was at that time settled in the parish of 
Broad Creek, Prince George's County, opposite Alex- 
andria. Hearing that there were some Episcopal 
families in this place, he paid it a visit ; was invited 
by Dr. Balch to hold an Episcopal service in his 
church, and encouraged by him to endeavor to organ- 
ize an Episcopal congregation. This incident is in 
perfect accordance with the character which this ven- 
erated man left behind him for Christian kindness and 
liberality. Mr. Addison continued to visit the place 
and to hold services occasionally during the years 
1794 and 1795. In the summer of 1796, the first 
effort, of which any record remains, was made to or- 
ganize a congregation and build a church. Whether 
22 



166 st. john's episcopal church. 

a board of trustees or a vestry was organized or not, 
does not appear. The only record we possess of this 
effort is a list of subscribers, whose contributions were 
to be applied ' to building the walls and covering in 
a Protestant Episcopal Church in Georgetown.' This 
paper is dated August, 1796, and contains one hundred 
and twelve names, whose contributions, varying from 
one dollar to one hundred dollars, amount, collectively, 
to fifteen hundred dollars. A lot for the church (the 
one now occupied) was given by Colonel William 
Deakins. The subscription list is preceded by the 
promise to pay the amount subscribed, ' for the pur- 
pose of building a Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
lot in Beatty and Hawkins' addition to Georgetown.' 
From this expression it appears that this location was 
at that time beyond the limits of the town proper. 
The memory of one of our oldest citizens refers the 
chief agency in this movement to Mr. "William Dor- 
sey and Mr. Plater. From causes which do not ap- 
pear, but which may be conjectured to have been the 
difficulty of raising a sufficient amount of money, the 
building which was commenced at that time was car- 
ried up only to the first range of windows, and re- 
mained in this situation until the year 1803. During 
this period the Reverend Mr. Addison held occasional 
services in this place, though with little encourage- 
ment to his hopes of completing the building. 

" The next record of which we are in possession is 
of a meeting of the citizens of Georgetown, in Janu- 
ary, 1803, to take measures for renewing the effort to 
build an Episcopal Church. The minutes of this meet- 



ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 167 

ing commence as follows : ' At a meeting of a number 
of the inhabitants of Georgetown, at Mr. iSemmes' 
tavern, on Friday evening, 28th Januaiy, pursuant to 
a notice in the Washington Federalist, for the purpose 
of adopting regulations for building a Protestant Epis- 
copal Church, Walter S. Chandler, Charles Worthing- 
ton, and Walter Smith, were appointed a committee 
to inquire into the situation of the building com- 
menced for that purpose, and to examine into the state 
of the accounts relative thereto, and to judge of the 
propriety of completing the same, or to purchase 
ground in any other part of the town, in their opinion 
most appropriate ; to solicit subscriptions therefor, and 
to make all such contracts and agreements as may be 
requisite for carrying into effect the object proposed.' 
The committee were instructed by resolution to ap- 
point a treasurer, and to proceed to build a church as 
soon as sufficient funds for the object could be ob- 
tained. There are recorded the names of one hund- 
red and fifty-four subscribers, whose subscriptions 
amount to twenty-five hundred dollars. Among the 
subscribers is found the name of Thomas Jefferson. 
The name of the Reverend Dr. Balch also appears as 
a subscriber. Another record states the whole amount 
of the subscriptions to have been four thousand two 
hundred and forty-five dollars. Consequently, aid from 
other sources and contributors than those which appear 
on the remaining list must have been received. That 
difficulties occurred in obtaining the amount required 
is manifest from a letter addressed by the Rev. Mr. 
Rattoone, associate rector of St. Paul's Church, Balti- 



168 ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

more, on behalf of the trustees of this church, to the 
vestry of Trinity Church, New York. The letter 
gives us an idea of the difficulties they had to en- 
counter, and the importance of the enterprise, not 
only in reference to the spiritual interests of George- 
town, but of Washington also. 

"At that period there was no other church at Wash- 
ington than Christ Church at the Navy Yard. A part 
of the letter is here given : 

" ' To the rector and vestry of Trinity Church, N. Y. 

" ' Gentlemen : Having perused a memorial from 
the trustees of the church at Georgetown, at their re- 
quest I am induced to certify that the statement they 
have given is perfectly correct. The exertions they 
have made, the difficulties they have encountered, 
and the great importance of the Episcopal Church tak- 
ing a primary and superior lead, where at the seat of 
Government they are so divided, are considerations 
which I have no doubt will have their due weight 
when you shall take into view the facts they have 
stated. I should regret that from the very small num- 
ber of Episcopalians residing in this place, and from 
the great sacrifices they have made to accommodate 
the poorer classes of the same society, they should not 
be able to complete the church, and form the most 
respectable establishment. 

" ' As Trinity parish gave so liberally to the church 
established at Albany, under the idea of that place 
being made the seat of the State government, I am 
induced to hope, as no evil can result from the prece- 
dent, that they will extend their liberality likewise to 



ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 169 

the permanent seat of the General Government. It 
may tend greatly to restore order, to diffuse the prin- 
ciples of equal and just liberty, and to establish, with 
honor and distinction, a house of public worship, 
where the doctrines, discipline, and worship of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church may be taught in purity, 
and from this center of the Union be widely diffused 
throughout the United States.' 

" Whether this appeal to Trinity Church was suc- 
cessful, does not appear. The building was com- 
menced, covered in, and sufficiently finished for the 
celebration of public worship. 

"Early in 1804, the trustees* advertised their want 
of a rector. In March they were visited by the Rev. 
Mr. Sayrs, of Port Tobacco parish. A meeting of the 
pew holders was held in April, at which he was elected 
rector, and the trustees directed to inform him of his 
election. He appears at once to have entered upon 
his labors. In May, 1806, there was a call upon the 
pew holders for one year's rent, or a sum equal there- 
to, to finish the church. It is this call which leads me 
to infer, that at the first occupancy of the church, it 
was not completed, but only made sufficiently com- 
fortable to be occupied in 1804 and 1805. The church 
appears to have been in a prosperous state until the 
death of the rector in 1809. Few are now living here 
who have distinct recollections of this excellent man, 
but those few unite in paying a sincere tribute to his 

*It appears, from one of the papers, that the following gentlemen 
composed a board of trustees, viz : William H. Dorsey, Charles 
Worthington, Thomas Corcoran, Walter S. Chandler, and Walter 
Smith. Thomas Corcoran and Walter Smith acted as treasurers. 



170 st. John's episcopal church. 

memory. A scholar, a pleasing speaker, a pious and 
humble minister, he was well qualified for usefulness 
in the then important position which he occupied. 
The character given of him in conversation by that 
lamented and distinguished man, Francis S. Key, Esq., 
by whom Mr. ISayrs' epitaph was written, impressed 
my mind with a deep respect for his memory. 

" The marble which commemorates his fidelity, re- 
stored by the pious care of the vestry of the church 
to a position which enables him being dead yet to 
speak, serves to remind us alike of the good example 
of him whose ashes sleep beneath, and of him, his par- 
ishioner and friend, whose alfectionate and devoted 
spirit yet lives in the epitaph, whose words fall on the 
ear and on the heart with so sweet and solemn ca- 
dence ! That marble also serves to preach to the 
preacher, as he stands in this place, an earnest exhor- 
tation, which seems to issue from the tomb, ' What- 
soever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, 
for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor 
wisdom in the grave whither thou goest ! ' Oh ! may 
all who speak in this place, reminded by that silent 
monitor, speak as in view of the hour of death, and of 
the day of judgment. ' Storied urn and animated 
bust' may bear flattering memorials of the worth, and 
fame, and honor of the children of the world ; but 
when truth guides the hand that writes the epitaph, 
no higher eulogy can be traced over the resting-place 
of man than this, that 

' He lived and died an humble minister 
Of God's benignant purposes to man.' 



ST. JOHN S EPISCOPAL CHUKCH. 171 

"*In January, 1809, the Rev. "Walter Addison was 
called to and accepter! the rectorship of this church. 
At that time the church was as largely attended from 
Washington as from Georgetown, there being still no 
other church at Washington but Christ Church at the 
Navy Yard. 

" The memories of some of our older citizens recall 
the crowded attendance upon the services of this church 
at that period. No other records are possessed than 
those of the names of the vestry, and of the ordinary 
business transactions of that body, until the year 1811. 
That the church was in a most prosperous condition 
at that period, at least in reference to its external af- 
fairs, appears from a resolution of the vestry dated 
January 11, 1811.f 

" On motion, Resolved, ' That it is expedient to en- 
large the church, and that a committee be appointed 
to solicit subscriptions ; and that Mr. Gozler be re- 
quested to furnish a plan for the said addition to be 
built, together with his estimate of the probable cost 
thereof.' The plan failed, as we have been informed, 
from the double difficulty of raising the means, and of 
making the pew holders satisfied with holding the 
same pews, relatively more distant from the pulpit 
than before, at the same valuation. The incident 
shows how, even in a Christian congregation, little and 
selfish considerations sometimes oppose themselves to, 

*Vestry in 1807 — Charles Worthington, W. Bowie, T. Corcoran, 
J. Mason, T, Plater, B. Mackall, P. B. Key, and William Stewart. 

f Vestry alluded to were T. Corcoran, treasurer ; J. Abbot, sec- 
retary ; T. Peter, J. Gozler, L. H. Johns, R. Beverly, T. Hyde, F. 
S. Key, C. Smith, and J. Kennedy, wardens. 



172 ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

and prevent great and permanent measures of im- 
provement. "We cannot but contrast that unsuccess- 
ful effort for enlargement with the one in whose suc- 
cess we rejoice to-day, using the language of David, 
to express our joyful gratitude, 

' The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.' 

At that time the church was thronged to an overflow 
with all who were m»st elevated in station and in 
wealth from the capital ; the pews in the gallery were 
rented at high rates, and to persons of great respecta- 
bility ; the street before the door of the church was 
filled with glittering vehicles, and liveried servants ; 
and yet, because means could not be raised for the en- 
largement, and a miserable selfishness could not be 
made to relinquish anything for the sake of extending 
the privileges of God's house, the enterprise was aban- 
doned. jSTow, with a much smaller and humbler con- 
gregation, on whom heavy burdens have rested ever 
since the re-opening of the church, not largely blessed, 
or shall we say cursed, with this world's wealth, but, 
as their deeds have shown, rich in faith, with but little 
aid from without the congregation, the means for the 
enlargement of the church have been raised, and the 
work has not been prevented by the obtrusion of self- 
ish and secondary considerations, and to-day we re- 
joice in its completion. The contrast strikingly 
teaches us to whom we are, and are not, to look for the 
extension of Christ's kingdom, and the honor of his 
name. I should do violence to my feelings if I did 
not here express my sense of the noble and Christian 
liberality of the little flock among whom it is my hap- 



st. john's episcopal church. 173 

piness to minister. Looking above the human instru- 
ments to Him who put it in their hearts to do honor 
to his name, to Him alone would I give the glory, and 
say, in the grateful language of the Psalmist— 

' The Lord hath done great things for us. whereof we are glad.' 

"From this period until the year* 1817, the church 
continued in operation with but a moderate measure 
of temporal or spiritual prosperity. It appears, from 
a resolution of the vestry, that the Rev. Mr. Addison 
tendered his resignation of the parish, and that this 
resignation was accepted and acted upon by the vestry. 

" The resolution was in these words : Resolved, i That 
a rector of St. John's Church be appointed on Wed- 
nesday, 30th of April, 1817, to supply the vacancy 
occasioned by the resignation of the Rev. Walter Ad- 
dison.'" Mr. Addison's resignation, however, did not 
take effect, and the vestry furnished him with an as- 
sistant. At a meeting of the vestry May, 13th, 1817, 
we find this resolution : Resolved, ' That the Reverend 
Ruel Keith be appointed the assistant minister of this 
church for one year.' On the 26th of April, 1818, 
there is again a record, ' That the Rev. Mr. Addison 
was unanimously appointed rector of this church.' 
At this time, the congregation of Christ Church was 
organized, and the Rev. Mr. Keith chosen rector of 
the church. From this period St. John's Church con- 
tinued in a feeble and declining condition. In 1821, 

*Vestry in 1817— P. S. Key, T. Hyde, L. H. Johns, W. Bowie, 
C. Worthington, C. Smith, T. Corcoran, and J. Abbot ; J. Howe 
and T. G. Waters, wardens. At a meeting of the vestry, Messrs. 
Bowie, Corcoran, and Abbot were appointed a committee ' to adopt 
such measures as they may deem proper to enlarge the church.' 
23 



174 ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

the Eev. Mr. Addison resigned the rectorship of the 
church, under the conviction that his usefulness had 
been much diminished, and that the parish might pros- 
per better in other hands. He then took charge of 
Rock Creek Church and Addison Chapel, near Bla- 
densburg, and was succeeded in the rectorship of St. 
John's by the Rev. Stephen S. Tyng. Mr. Tyng re- 
mained in the parish from April, 1821, to April, 1823. 
There were but eleven families connected with the 
church when lie assumed the charge of it, and when 
he left, the number had increased to thirty-three. 
Mr. Tyng resigned the parish in 1823, and removed 
to Queen's Parish, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. 
Mr. Addison was recalled in 1823, and continued the 
settled minister of the parish till 1827. During this 
period he was much afflicted with weakness of the eyes, 
which in the end became perfect blindness. Unable, 
under this affliction, to continue his services effectively, 
he resigned the charge again in 1827. He was succeeded 
by the Rev. Mr. James, who had charge of the church, 
it is believed, between one and two years. Mr. James 
was succeeded by the Rev. Sutherland Douglass, who 
had charge of the parish about the same length of 
time. After the church had ceased to have a settled 
rector, the Rev. Mr. Addison, though perfectly blind, 
continued to hold an occasional service in the church 
till 1831, when it was finally abandoned.* Abandoned, 
did I say ? If this had been all, it would have been 

* Vestry at this time: Dr. Charles Worthington, Gen. John Ma- 
son, Messrs. G. B. Magruder, Thomas Peter, John Gozler, Clem- 
ent Cox, Charles G. Wilcox, William Stewart, William Good, and 
Richard Davis, wardens; F. Lowndes, register. 



ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 175 

comparatively well. Had it remained only open and 
deserted, so as not inappropriately to have borne the 
title of * The Swallow Barn,'* by which name I hear it 
was often called, even in such a deserted and neg- 
lected state, it would not have been altogether di- 
vested of sacred associations. As the pious member 
of the church passed by the desolated house of God, 
where himself or his fathers worshipped, he might then 
have applied to it, with something of mournful- 
ness, the plaintive language of the Psalmist : ' The 
sparrow hath found her an house, and the swallow a 
nest, where she may lay her young, even thy altars 
and thy tabernacles, Lord of hosts, my King and 
my God!' But, a feeling of holy indignation, or of 
conscious shame, must, I think, have filled his heart, 
when he saw it given up as a workshop of a sculp- 
ture ! Yes, in this Christian community, a Christian 
temple was allowed to undergo the most shameful des- 
ecration, and they who had worshipped under its roof, 
and gathered about its sacred board, or in it been dedi- 
cated to God by baptism, passed it by, and saw the 
statues of heathen gods and goddesses as a sign at its 
portico, and heard the chiselings of the workmen, 
where the voice of prayer and praise was wont for 
years to rise,t and they suffered it to be so ! I know 
not on whose heads the censure falls, but I should be 



* The church occupied at present long remained in an unfinished 
condition. Birds used to build their nests in it, and the Reverend 
Thomas B. Balch, when a boy, and his companions used to clamber 
up its walls. This was about the year 1800. 

f The building was, at this time, occupied as a studio by Mr. Pet- 
trich, the sculptor. 



176 st. John's episcopal church. 

unfaithful to my duty as an annalist, and a minister 
of Christ, if I did not designate such gross indiffer- 
ence to God's house as inexcusable and disgraceful. If, 
which God in his mercy avert, these walls should ever 
again be deserted and left without worshipers, may 
there be. at least, such a decree of godly jealousy for 
the honor of God's house left among you, brethren who 
may linger last about its forsaken altar, as will lead you 
to level the edifice to the dust, rather than that it 
should again be subjected to such wanton desecration! 
" In the rapid sketch of the history of this church, 
up to the period of its abandonment in 1831, names 
have been mentioned as identified with its fortunes 
which, no doubt, have called up many associations in 
the minds of some of those who hear me. Of the 
laity who were active in its organization, few remain 
among us. Of the clergymen who have been con- 
nected with this church, some remain to this present, 
but others are fallen asleep. We have already spoken 
of him whose ashes sleep beneath this edifice. The 
name of the lamented - Dr. Keith will call up fresher 
recollections. The impression stamped by that ear- 
nest and gifted man on this community will not soon 
be effaced. Alas ! that the light which was so bright 
in its dawning and meridian, should have been so 
clouded at its setting. But let us remember that the 
sun, whose parting rays are so obstructed that they do 
not meet the eye, is, in itself, no less radiant, and de- 
parts in darkness from one horizon, to shine with more 
than its morning and meridian brightness in other 
climes. The Eev. Mr. Tyng is occupying a position 
of great responsibility, and exercising a ministry of 



ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 177 

eminent usefulness, in the city of Philadelphia. The 
Rev. Mr. James was successively an assistant of Bishop 
White, in Christ Church, and his successor in the rec- 
torship. He died soon after Bishop "White, deeply re- 
gretted, not only by his congregation, but by the 
church at large. The Reverend Sutherland Douglass 
breathed forth his ardent and zealous spirit in a for- 
eign land, where he had gone with the hope of restor- 
ation to health, ' by strangers honored, and by strang- 
ers mourned.' The venerable Mr. Addison is still liv- 
ing. Afflicted for many years with blindness, this 
truly humble and pious man has exhibited a meek and 
patient spirit, which gives evidence that the eye of his 
soul is open, and is fixed on Christ. 'Patient waiting 
for Christ,' are words which well describe his condi- 
tion. Looking upon the venerable man, with his hoary 
head and placid countenance, which bears the marks 
of chastening, but not of tumult or discontent, his pres- 
ence seemed to breathe forth the eloquent but unre- 
pining complaint of the blind bard of Paradise: 

'Not to me returns 
Day, nor the sweet reproach of even or morn, 
Or sight of vernal bloom or summer rose, 
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine ; — 
But clouds instead, and ever during dark 
Surround me, from the cheerful rays of men 
Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair, 
Presented with an universal blank 
Of nature's works, to me expunged and razed, 
And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.' 

"Ah! brethren, these churches, thus bearing on 
their silent walls the associations of the past, preach- 
ing to us the changes and chances of this mortal life, 



178 st. John's esiscopal church. 

admonish us, with an eloquence more than human, to 
prepare for that eternal world towards which change 
and chance inevitably impel us all ! 

" Time allows me to give but a rapid sketch of the 
restoration of the church to the holy purposes for which 
it was established. It is less needful to be done, be- 
cause, having been of recent occurrence, the circum- 
stances of that history are familiar to those who hear 
me. With whatever indifference the desecration of 
the church may have been generally regarded, there 
was one to whom, as he passed it in his daily walk, it 
was a pain and grief.* It became a subject of conver- 
sation among his family and friends. The idea of re- 
storing it was suggested. The Rev. Mr. Peterkin, to 
whose early zeal and activity in its behalf this church 
is much indebted, gave of his means, as well as his 
services, to the object. A zealous lady, to whose ac- 
tivity and zeal the church is also under deep obliga- 
tions, established a sewing circle of young misses, by 
whose industry fifty dollars! — the sum which had been 

* Allusion is here made to Mr. William G. Ridgely, the present 
register. The first action by the vestry towards re-opening the 
church for regular services, was had on the 31st October, 1887, 
which resulted in the appointment of Messrs. C. Gr. Wilcox, Wil- 
liam Steuart, and W. Gr. Ridgely (the last not then a member of the 
vestry), to investigate the fiscal and all other affairs of the church, 
and to solicit donations to repair and refit it for public worship, &c. 

fMiss H. L. Steuart, directress ; and Misses Harriet B. Williams, 
Eliza Williams, Catharine Davidson, Eliza Davidson, Louisa J. 
Ridgely, Emily Ridgely, Anna Key Ridgely, Sophia M. Ridgely, 
Virginia Williams, Mary A. Harry, Harriet B. Harry, Elizabeth 
Harry, Mary E. Berry, Soloma Pickrell, Lavinia Lyne, Arianna 
French, Anna Morton, Mary Magruder, Nancy Beard, Ellen Pear- 
son, Josephine Pearson, Sally Hanson, members. This association, 
the number of members being increased, subsecpiently paid over 
to the vestry of the church, a further sum of three hundred and 
seventy-five dollars, to be applied towards its repairs, and for the 
procurement of a bell. 



st. John's episcopal chttkch. 179 

paid for the church by the gentleman who had bid in 
the building when it was sold for taxes — was raised 
for the purpose of repurchasing the dilapidated edifice. 
The gentleman* who had bidden in the building gene- 
rously returned the money, and with it a title deed to 
the property. A fair was held in the latter part of 
1838, the vestry reorganized, the church rendered fit 
for public worship, and the Rev. Dr. Marbury's ser- 
vices obtained as rector of the church.f Gradually, 
by untiring devotedness of the little flock, aud by the 
Christian aid and sympathy of the members of Christ 
Church, several of whom took pews in the church to 
assist in its support, the building was furnished with 
all the conveniences which it possessed before its en- 
largement, and an income obtained for the support of 
its pastor. Since then you know its history. Dr. Mar- 
bury resigned the charge of the church in September 
of 1841, and its present pastor immediately succeeded 
him. It then numbered about thirty families and 
thirty-five communicants ; at this time, it has about 
sixty families and one hundred and ten communicants. 
Since that period, as well as before, the church has 
had reason to use the language of the Psalmist, ' The 
Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are 
glad.' 

* TV. W. Corcoran, Esq. 

f Vestry — Messrs. J. Gozler, Dr. N. W. Worthington, R. H. Vil- 
lard, F. Lowndes, TV. Gr. Ridgely, William Steuart, C. Gr. Wilcox, 
G. B. Magruder ; F. Lowndes, register. In order to secure the 
services of a rector of the church, and provide six hundred dollars 
for his salary for the first year, four members of the vestry entered 
into a written obligation, binding themselves for fifty dollars each, 
one of the four agreeing to make good all the deficiency. 



180 ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

" The brief history which I have given, and the cir- 
cumstances under which we meet to-day, afford im- 
portant lessons which we can but suggest to your con- 
sideration : 

" 1st. The ruin of the church in time past, speaks 
to us as a congregation, ' Be not high-minded, but 
fear.' It is not for man to say, without divine war- 
rant of such an event, that it was God's judgment on 
the church for its worldliness, lukewarmness, and faith- 
lessness to the cause of Christ. This, however, we 
may say that God's judgments are denounced against 
the lukewarm and worldly churches. He who walk- 
eth in the midst of the churches, and holdeth the stars 
in his right hand, declares of those who have become 
lukewarm, who have lost their first love, who have 
fallen into the impurities of licentious practice, or the 
delusions of licentious doctrine, that their candlestick 
shall be removed, and their star extinguished. ' He 
that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith 
unto the churches.' 

" 2d. The success which has attended this enterprise, 
teaches us another lesson. We are not to take the 
world's opinion as to what is practicable when we 
would do something for the cause of Christ. When 
the effort was made to restore this church, and when 
the plan for enlarging it was suggested, in both cases 
the enterprise was judged visionary by men of the 
world. The church is often made faint-hearted, and 
frightened out of her duty, by the ridicule of such 
men, and their oracular decision that her plans are 
visionary, fanatical, and unnecessary. Now, my Chris- 



st. John's episcopal church. 181 

tian brethren, I hope that you have learned to take 
counsel elsewhere than from them, as to what can be 
clone when you would extend the privileges of the 
gospel. If we had listened to such wisdom, we should 
not this day have worshiped with grateful hearts in 
this our enlarged and beautified sanctuary. Let 
worlcllv wisdom busv herself about worldly thing's, and 
let us take counsel of heavenly wisdom when we are 
engaged in the work of heaven. Henceforth, when 
we find anything needful to be done for the honor of 
God, the good of this church, and the conversion of 
men, believe that it can be done, and resolve that it 
shall be done. Tou have every reason so to believe 
and so to do. 

" 3d. The success of this eifort teaches us another 
lesson. It is this : we should show forth our gratitude 
to God for such a blessing, by doing and giving more 
than ever for his service and honor. Are any dis- 
posed to say, ' Xow we have done so much, let us have 
a pause, let us have no more calls on us for subscrip- 
tions and contributions, let us rest ? ' To such I an- 
swer, ' Xay.' On the other hand, as God has done 
so much for us, let us do what we can for those who 
have not the same heavenly blessings ; let us give 
more largely than before to missions, schools, and to 
every object of Christian benevolence. Tou have 
given this year much more largely than usual (as I am 
happy and proud to say for you as your pastor), and 
with great liberality And now do you wish to be re- 
leased from it ? "Why, brethren, I had hoped that the 
luxury of giving largelv had just be°;un to be realized 

24 



182 st. John's episcopal church. 

by you, and that you would not forego it. Let me 
ask you a few plain questions. Have you been, or do 
you expect to be, any less comfortable this year than 
usual ? Have you been in want this year ? Have you 
been less happy this year than usual because of giv- 
ing more largely to the cause of Christ and of his 
Church ? Nay, have you been any poorer ? I do not 
believe that any oue of you can say you have. Then 
I will believe that one of the greatest blessings con- 
nected with the enlargement of the church is, that it 
has shou n you the luxury of saving and giving to a 
holy cause, and that it has taught you that you can 
give much, and be neither the poorer nor the less 
happy. My duty, then, is plainly to call upon you to 
continue to save and give, and, so long as I shall be 
with you, I shall not cease to do so. You are but 
stewards of God's bounty, and never are you so hap- 
pily occupied as when dispensing it in his service. Let, 
then, your mite go on its way to the destitute of this 
and other lands, bearing with it the message of salva- 
tion ; let the poor about you rise up and call you 
blessed ; let the church of your love continue to re- 
ceive your liberal contributions for all she needs ; let 
not your dying hour be darkened by the consideration 
that you have withheld, from selfishness, or expended 
upon self, that which Christ claimed, and his spouse, 
the Church, needed for her welfare. And let not 
this duty be regarded by any one as, because a more 
external duty, little connected with our spiritual inter- 
ests as individuals or as a church. It is, on the con- 
trary, one of the highest importance ; it is a test of 



CHKIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 183 

our profession ; it shows whether or not we have given 
up all for Christ ; it brings clown God's blessing. To 
what was it that the great promise was made — prove 
me now herewith, saith the Lord, if I will not open 
the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, 
that there shall not be room to receive it ? It was in 
reference to this duty, too often regarded by Christians 
who profess to be eminently spiritual, as Pharisaical 
and legal, and therefore held almost in contempt, that 
the direction was given : ' Bring ye all the tithes into 
the storehouse, that there may be meat, and prove me 
herewith, saith the Lord.' Brethren, by prayer, and 
by the consecration of yourselves and substances, 
another blessing like that which came down upon this 
place once before, shall visit us again. This house of 
prayer shall become the gate of heaven to many im- 
mortal souls. May He to whose service it is dedicated 
ever be present here with his people ! Thus, and thus 
only, will it be verified, ' That the glory of this latter 
house shall be greater than that of the former.' "* 

CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

[History prepared from the records of the church, by Rev. 
W. W. Williams, rector, December 27, 1868.] 

" Fifty eventful years have now passed away since 
our organization as a church, and it may lend impres- 
siveness to the solemn lessons of this day, if we re- 
trace all the way by which the Lord our God hath 

* Vestry at this time — Messrs. John Waters, J. H. Offley, John 
Hopkins, P. GL Washington, C. E. Rittenhouse, A. H. Marbury, 
L. Thomas (treasurer), W. G. Ridgely (register) ; Messrs. Waters 
and Hopkins, wardens. 



184 CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

led us these many years, and recall his loving kind- 
ness in the midst of His temple. 

" The records of the first establishment of an Epis- 
copal Church in Georgetown are very few and imper- 
fect.* It is a pleasing circumstance connected with 
the first movement which was made by the Rev. Mr. 
Addison, that he received the concurrence and assist- 
ance of the Rev. Dr. Balch, then the esteemed minis- 
ter of the Presbyterian Church of this place, whose 
memory is still warmly venerated by the whole of 
this community. 

" The kindly and fraternal feeling thus manifested 
by our Presbyterian friends and brethren, I rejoice to 
say, has still been kept up, and has quite lately laid 
us un der great obligations, by generously placing their 
commodious chapel at the disposal of our congrega- 
tion when the work of enlarging the church had de- 
prived us of a place of worship. May coming years 
cement and deepen the fraternal feeling which now 
exists, and the great Head of the church so guide and 
govern us by his good Spirit that all who profess and 
call themselves Christians may hold the faith in unity 
of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness 
of life. At the time Dr. Balch thus extended a help- 
ing hand to the movement of establishing an Episco- 
pal church in this place there were but few Episcopal 
families in the town. The Rev. Mr. Addison, at this 
time settled in Broad Creek parish, Prince George's 

* For the facts connected with the first establishment of an Epis- 
copal Church in Georgetown, I am indebted to a sermon of Rev. 
C. M. Butler, D. D., preached on the re-opening of St. John's 
Church. 



CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 185 

County, opposite Alexandria, was induced to visit them, 
and invited by Dr. Balch to bold an Episcopal service 
in bis church. Occasional services were thus held 
during the years 1794 and 1795. In the summer of 
1796 the iirst effort was made to organize a congrega- 
tion and build a church. Whether a vestry was or- 
ganized does not appear. The only record of this ef- 
fort is a list of subscribers, whose contributions were 
to be applied ' to building the walls and covering in a 
Protestant Episcopal Church in Georgetown.' The 
amount collected was fifteen hundred dollars, and a 
lot given upon which St. John's Church now stands. 
What causes prevented the completion of the building 
does not appear ; but it was carried up only to the 
first range of windows, and remained in that unfin- 
ished state until the year 1803. During this period 
of seven years the Rev. Mr. Addison continued to 
hold occasional services, but the prospect of establish- 
ing the church seemed far from encouraging. 

"In January, 1803, however, another effort was 
made, and a meeting of the citizens of Georgetown 
called for that purpose. The minutes of this meet- 
ing commence as follows : ' At a meeting of a num- 
ber of the inhabitants of Georgetown, at Mr. Semmes' 
tavern, on Tuesday evening, 28th of January, 1803, 
pursuant to a notice in the Washington Federalist, for 
the purpose of adopting regulations for building a 
Protestant Episcopal Church, Walter S. Chandler, 
Charles Worthington, and Walter Smith were ap- 
pointed a committee to inquire into the situation of 
the building commenced for that purpose, and to ex- 



186 CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

amine into the state of the accounts relative thereto, 
and to judge of the propriety of completing the same, 
or to purchase ground in any other part of the town, 
in their opinion most appropriate, to solicit subscrip- 
tions therefor, and to make all such contracts and 
agreements as may be requisite for carrying into effect 
the same.' 

" Among the list of subscribers is found the name 
of Thomas Jefferson, and also Dr. Balch, and the 
amount raised on this occasion was about four thou- 
sand dollars, not enongh, it would appear from the 
records, to complete the unfinished structure, for we 
find a letter was addressed about this time, by the Rev. 
Mr. Ratoone, associate rector of St. Paul's, Baltimore, 
to the vestry of Trinity Church, New York, asking 
their assistance, and urging the ' great importance of 
having an Episcopal Church firmly established at the 
seat of the General Government ; so that from it, as 
a center, the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the 
Episcopal Church might be widely diffused throughout 
the United States.' There was but one Episcopal 
Church to minister to the spiritual wants of both our 
cities — that of Christ Church, Navy Yard, and its lo- 
cation would necessarily preclude the attendance of 
the Episcopalians of this place. Whether this appeal 
to Trinity Church was successful does not appear, but 
in this year (1803) the building, which had remained 
so long unfinished, was covered in and sufficiently 
completed for the celebration of public worship. In 
1804 the first rector of St. John's, Rev. Mr. Sayrs, of 
Port Tobacco, Maryland, entered upon his labors, 



CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 187 

and, under his faithful ministry, the first Episcopal 
Church gained a permanent foothold in the place. In 
1809 the Rev. Mr. Sayrs died, and was succeeded by the 
Rev. Walter Addison, who, with the interval of two 
years, continued the beloved and efficient pastor of 
St. John's until the year 1827, when the increasing 
infirmities of age and a malady of the eyes, which 
ended in total blindness, disqualified him for labor 
and terminated his connection with the church. 

" The earlier years of his ministry here were emi- 
nently blessed; the church grew in numbers and spir- 
ituality ; many high in station and authority attended 
upon its services, and the church was so thronged that 
the seats in the gallery were in great demand and 
rented at high rates. In 1811, an effort was made to 
enlarge the church, the capacity of the building being 
far below the wants of its increased numbers. But it 
failed, and this led to a movement, six years after, 
which resulted in the organization of a new congre- 
gation. It is, at this point, our own history as a church 
commences. On the 10th of November, 1817, a meet- 
ing was held at the residence of Mr. Thomas Corco- 
ran, 'for the purpose (as stated in the minutes) of or- 
ganizing a new congregation, and devising a plan for 
building an additional Protestant Episcopal Church.' 
Mr. Corcoran was appointed chairman, and Mr. Wm. 
Morton, secretary of the meeting, and steps were at 
once taken to accomplish their object. A committee 
was appointed to procure a suitable building for hold- 
ing public worship, until a church could be erected, 
and also secure the services of the Rev. Ruel Keith, 



188 CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

then assisting Mr. Addison at St. John's. The names 
of those who inaugurated this movement, and by whose 
energy and zeal it was brought to a successful issue, 
deserves a lasting place in our remembrance; they 
were, under God, the founders of Christ Church. As 
given in the records of that first meeting, they were 
the following: Thomas Corcoran, Clement Smith, 
Francis S. Key, John S. Haw, John Myers, Ulyses 
"Ward, James A. Magruder, William Morton, Thomas 
Henderson, and John Pickrell. Twenty-six names of 
pew holders and subscribers are appended to the orig- 
inal articles of agreement, and as they are, in some 
measure, part of the history of the community, as well 
as of the church, we give them in the order in which 
they were signed by themselves : C. Smith, J. S. 
Haw, Joseph Brewer, S. Henderson, John S. Comp- 
ton, William Morton, John Abbott, Thomas Corcoran, 
Jeremiah Williams, Darius Clagett, Wm. W. Clagett, 
George Clarke, C. A. Burnett, H. Horel, Nmian Ma- 
gruder, Thomas Hyde, James Getty, William Hay- 
man, Jr., Ulysses Ward, Richard Burgess, Thomas Pla- 
ter, Ann Key, J. J. Stull, Robert Read, Otho M. Lin- 
thicum, Francis S. Key, James S. Morsell. The prom- 
ise of Him who declares ' them that honor me will I 
honor,' seems to have been graciously fulfilled in their 
case. Their decendants, to the third and fourth gene- 
ration, are still represented among us, and their at- 
tachment and love to the house their fathers built, has 
been conspicuous in their liberality and zealous efforts 
in the enlargement and completion of our present 
beautiful church edifice. On the 18th of November, 



CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 189 

1817, a week after the first meeting, the committee 
made their report, recommending the Lancasterian 
school-house (a few doors below the present church 
building), as a suitable and commodious place for hold- 
ing service, and also the willingness of the vestry of 
St. John's Church to dispense with the services of the 
Rev. Mr. Keith for two Sundays in the month. 

"This meeting proceeded to ballot for a vestry, 
and the following gentlemen were elected as the first 
vestry of the church: Thomas Corcoran, Thomas 
Henderson, Clement Smith, John S. Haw, James S. 
Morsell, John Abbott, William Morton, and Ulysses 
Ward. A letter, dated November 19th, 1817, still on 
record, was addressed by the vestry to the Rev. Mr. 
Keith, asking his acceptance of the rectorship of the 
new congregation. After stating the causes which led 
to its organization, they go on to say: 

"'The most prominent, important, and interesting 
duty devolving on us in the selection of a minister, in 
whose devotion to the religion of Christ, and the doc- 
trines and forms of the Episcopal Church, the utmost 
confidence can be reposed, we are happy in assur- 
ing you we have every reason to expect from you a 
conscientious discharge of the duties attached to the 
ministerial office, and, therefore, take unfeigned pleas- 
ure in asking you to take charge of the congregation.' 

" How largely blessed they were in this choice and 
expectation, we need not say. Dr. Keith here made 
full proof of his ministry, and has left the impress of 
his earnest spirit and rich gifts, not only upon this 
community, but the church at large. His praise is in 

25 



190 CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

all the churches, and there are still some living who 
remember his apostolic fervor and eloquence, and, at 
times, the awful earnestness with which he pressed 
home upon the heart and conscience the great truths 
of redeeming love. As a professor of theology at 
Williamsburg, then in a most nourishing condition, 
its venerable halls filled with the youth and rising tal- 
ent of Virginia and other States, his field of useful- 
ness was a most important one, and his great intellec- 
tual gifts and ripe scholarship were doubtless largely 
instrumental in moulding the religious beliefs and 
principles of its students. After occupying this posi- 
tion at William and Mary College for two years, he 
removed to Alexandria, in 1823, and, together with 
Dr. Wilner, established the Theological Seminary of 
Virginia, which has clone so much for the resuscitation 
of the church, not only in that State, but for the spread 
of the evangelical truth throughout our whole land — 
supplying earnest and faithful ministers to almost 
every diocese, and honored by God as the source from 
which our missionary bishop and laborers have been 
almost entirely recruited. 

"To Dr Keith's logical, discriminating, systematic 
teaching of theology, and, above all, to the atmos- 
phere of true spiritual religion, which his life illus- 
trated, and his influence generated, is that institution, 
under God, largely indebted for its early success ; and 
the honored names, who now fill its chairs and watch 
over its interests, are striving to keep it faithful to the 
great doctrines he taught and the high spiritual stand- 
ard he set up. The pleasing association which con- 



CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 191 

nects Dr. Keith the first rector of Christ Church, and 
the first professor of the seminary, is a bond of union 
which has been increased by many subsequent ties of 
interest ; many faithful pastors has the seminary fur- 
nished to this church, and many times, when without 
a minister, have its professors broken to this people 
the bread of life. 

" To return now to our more immediate history : 
The invitation extended by the vestry to Dr. Keith 
was accepted, and the congregation assembled to- 
gether, for the first time, in the Lancaster school- 
house, on Sunday, December 21, 1817. There are, 
perhaps, but few representatives of that first service 
now living ; one of them, Judge James S. Morsell, 
whose absence from our midst to-day we deeply re- 
gret, is now bowed with the weight of years, and wait- 
ing, like the aged Simeon, for joyful dismissal. He 
has been associated for more than half a century with 
the church, and, by his consistent Christian life and 
earnest devotion to its interest, adorning the gospel of 
Christ. Under Mr. Keith's labors the congregation 
greatly increased in prosperity. 

"At a meeting held in April, 1818, at the Lancas- 
ter school, and opened with prayer by Mr. F. S. Key, 
a committee, consisting of Thomas Corcoran, Charles 
A. Burnett, Thomas Hyde, "William Clagett, Ulysses 
Ward, and John Myers, were appointed ' to secure 
subscriptions, purchase a lot, and contract for a church 
edifice.' The present site was then purchased, and on 
the 6th of May, 1818, the building was begun. On 
the 21st of December, it seems to have been com- 



192 CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

pleted ; and at sunrise Christmas day,* 1818, the con- 
gregation assembled for the first time within its walls 
for prayer. On the 30th of December the church was 
consecrated by the Eight Rev. James Kemp, bishop 
of Maryland. At ten o'clock the morning service was 
performed, and a sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. 
Keith. It must have been a joyous Christmas morn- 
ing, not only from its own blessed associations, but be- 
cause it witnessed the successful completion of what 
was then the largest Episcopal Church in the District. 
Would it were in my power to give some extracts from 
the first sermon preached within these walls. What 
changes have half a century wrought ? Your fathers, 
where are they ? How many who here bent the knee 
in prayer are now in the vast regions of the dead ? 
How many who joined in the sublime ascription, 
' Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ ! ' do now be- 
hold Him face to face ? How many who here pro- 
claimed the blessed gospel, do now rest from their 
labors and are at home with the Lord ? And we who 
now occupy their places and join in the same solemn 
prayers, will, in a few brief years, be gathered to our 
fathers and receive the great recompense of reward 
according to the works done in the body. Oh, that 
the gospel here preached may be to us ' the Saviour of 

*It may, perhaps, be well to mention that at sunrise on last Christ- 
mas, just fifty years after, the congregation assembled to commemo- 
rate this first service held in these walls. The memories and 
changes of fifty years made it a deeply solemn and touching occa- 
sion to all present. Tears came unbidden to many eyes, and all felt 
it was a sad, though hallowed, service. 

The rector has since learned from an estimable lady who was 
present on this occasion, that she well remembers that first service 
held by Dr. Keith fifty years before. 



CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 193 

life unto life,' so that when Christ shall appear, we 
may be found an acceptable people, well pleasing in 
His sight. Brief as are the early notices of the occu- 
pation of the church, we cannot fail to be impressed 
with the promptness, energy, zeal, and liberality mani- 
fested by that first vestry, in prosecuting the work in 
which they engaged to a speedy completion. "Within 
the short space of a year, we behold a congregation 
organized, a minister called and liberally supported, 
and a church begun, finished, and occupied. 

" Fifty years ago things moved much more slowly, 
and wealth was far less generally distributed than at 
present, so that the enterprise they exhibited is worthy 
of all commendation, and their labors well entitled to 
our grateful remembrance. There must have been 
among them all a sincere love for the church, and a 
spirit to devise liberal things, in order to carry them 
through the difficulties and demands of such a work. 
But among those early founders, entitled to our spe- 
cial remembrance, we must record the names of Mr. 
Thomas Corcoran and Mr. Clement Smith ; from the 
first inception of the movement, through the earlier 
years of our history as a church, their efforts in its be- 
half were untiring, and when the work of building the 
church was embarrassed for want of means, they came 
forward and liberally advanced what was needed for 
its completion. The entire cost of the church, includ- 
ing the lot, was fifteen thousand nine hundred and 
fifty-two dollars. 

"In January, 1820, the Eev. Mr. Keith resigned 
the charge of the congregation. Though only of two 



194 CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

years' duration, his ministry had been signally blessed, 
and he had the satisfaction of leaving the church thor- 
oughly organized, and with every promise of a pros- 
perous career. On the 12th of April, 1819, the second 
election of a vestry was held, and among other names 
which have been mentioned, are found those of Jere- 
miah Williams and Thomas Plater. One item in the 
minutes of the vestry, at this early period, deserves a 
passing notice, as showing the interest then felt in a sub- 
ject which, I trust, has still a place in the prayers and 
charities of this people. Shortly after the resignation 
of Mr. Keith, and prompted, perhaps, by the difficulty 
of finding a successor, a resolution was offered looking 
to the organization of a society for the education -of 
pious young men for the ministry, to be auxiliary to 
that existing in the diocese of Maryland and Virginia. 
A committee was appointed to draft a constitution for 
an Educational Society, which was afterwards pre- 
sented to the congregation for their adoption. That 
the movement was not a fruitless one, appears from 
the testimony of Bishop Meade, in an address deliv- 
ered at the seminary, in 1859. In enumerating the 
benefactors of the seminary, without the bounds of 
Virginia, he specially mentions the congregation of 
Christ Church, Georgetown, as having, under the 
promptings of its several pastors, furnished no little 
aid to its support. 

« On the 8th of March, 1820, the Rev. Charles P. 
Mcllvaine was elected to succeed Mr. Keith, as rector. 
Not being ordained at the time of his election, he did 
not take charge until the following July. Of his min- 



CHKIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 195 

istiy of live years' duration, it is unnecessary for me 
to say much ; the zeal, devotedness, and success with 
which he here labored are well known by many still 
among us who were the fruits of that ministry, and for 
nearly fifty years he has been so prominent an actor 
in all the great movements of the church, as to make 
his name and work a familiar one to us all. During 
this period, we find the following names appearing 
among the vestry, and active supporters of the church : 
Jeremiah "Williams, James S. Morsell, Charles A. Bur- 
nett, Richard Burgess, James Corcoran, John Mar- 
bury, John Myers, Robert Read, H. C. Matthews, 
William G. Ridgely, William Sewell, Thomas Hyde, 
Joseph Brewer, Jeremiah Bronaugh. 

"During the interval between the resignation of 
Mr. Mcllvaine and the call of the Rev. H. W. Gray, 
on the 19th of May, 1825, Dr. Keith officiated. Mr. 
Gray continued the rector until the 20th of December, 
1828, when he was compelled by ill health to resign 
his charge. The Rev. Mr. Cobbs, of Virginia, was 
called, but declined. The Rev. John Thompson 
Brooke, then in charge of the parish at Martinsburg, 
was elected, and entered upon his duties on the 15th 
of March, 1829. His connection with the church 
lasted for six years, and seems to have been signally 
blessed. His preaching was ' in the demonstration of 
the spirit and with the power,' and his private life one 
of singular beauty and consistency. Few ministers 
were ever more warmly loved and respected, and so 
deep and lasting was the attachment of the congrega- 
tion to him, that eight years after he had resigned, we 



196 CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

find the vestry again electing him as their pastor, and, 
in the letter urging his acceptance, saying, 'that as 
soon as it became manifested that the continued ill 
health of their rector would sever his connection and 
leave their church without a pastor, all eyes were 
turned towards the west, in hope that you might be 
induced to turn homewards, where your old congrega- 
tion are waiting to receive you with open arms.' The 
Tractarian movement was then beginning to scatter 
its deadly errors through the church, and awaken alarm, 
and this presented as an additional plea in urging his 
coming ; the letter then goes on to say, ' we need not 
only the most skillful, but the strongest arms to stay 
the mighty torrent, and we call upon you to come to 
the help of the Lord against the mighty.' Dr. Brooke 
felt compelled to decline the call, but the repetition 
and earnestness with which it was urged, shows how 
deeply he had left the impress of his character upon 
the hearts of the congregation. 

" Nothing of special interest requires our notice dur- 
ing this period ; we find about this time, 1829, a move- 
ment on foot to withdraw the District of Columbia 
from the diocese of Maryland and Virginia, and erect 
the said District into a separate diocese ; but the move- 
ment met with no more favor then than it has lately 
done, and the vestry declined to send delegates to at- 
tend the proposed meeting. It may be mentioned, in 
this connection, that the church seems to have been 
regularly represented in the diocesian convention, and 
that the choice of the vestry often fell upon Mr. F. IS. 
Key to fill the place as delegate. After Mr. Brooke's 



CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 197 

resignation, there seems to have been some difficulty 
experienced in finding a successor to fill his place ; the 
Rev. William Jackson, of New York, and the Rev. 
Mr. Jones, of Orange Court House, Virginia, were 
called, but declined. For some reason, which does not 
appear in the record, the vestry at this time departed 
from their usual custom of calling a minister, and re- 
ferred the matter to the pew holders for their action ; 
the step seems to have been an injudicious one, for 
after various ballotings, and ineffectual efforts by the 
friends of the different candidates, no decision was 
reached, and the whole matter had to be referred back 
to the vestry, and they authorized to proceed to an 
election. The Rev. P. Slaughter was then chosen, and 
entered upon his duties in December, 1835. About 
this time the steeple of the church was finished ; the 
committee having in charge its erection, and procur- 
ing subscriptions for the same, being Messrs. Morton, 
Richard Burgess, and H. C. Matthews. We also find 
in the minutes of the vestry, at this time, the resigna- 
tion of Mr. John Marbury, who had filled the labori- 
ous office of treasurer for so many years, and to whose 
energetic efforts the debt which was contracted in 
building the church, and which had hung as an incu- 
bus on its prosperity, was finally discharged by the 
transfer of certain pews owned by the church, and 
funds due it to its creditors. It is but just to state that 
these creditors were very generous in their dealings, 
and one of the largest ultimately relinquished his claim 
and donated it to the church. In July, 1837, Mr. 

Slaughter's health compelled his temporary relinquish- 
26 



198 CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

ment of his charge, and the Rev. Mr. Goodrich occu- 
pied the pulpit and ministered very acceptably to the 
congregation. Mr. Slaughter finally resigned in Octo- 
ber, and Mr. Goodrich was elected his successor, but 
declined. Several unsuccessful efforts were made to 
secure a rector, but it was not until September, 1838, 
nearly a year after Mr. Slaughter's resignation, that the 
vestry succeeded in securing the services of the Rev. J. 
F. Hoff. On Easter morning, 1811, the following gen- 
tlemen composed the vestry : James S. Morsell, John 
Harry, J. Davidson, C. A. Burnett, Hezekiah Miller, 
J. Marbury ; H. McPherson, Mr. Mix, wardens ; P. T. 
Berry, register. In March, 1843, Rev. Mr. Hoff was 
compelled by ill-health to resign, much to the sorrow 
and regret of the whole congregation. The Rev. Ste- 
phen G. Gassaway, of Ohio, was then called, and en- 
tered upon his duties as rector, on the 21st of April, 

1843. We have now reached a period, so fully with- 
in the memory of the greater part of the congrega- 
tion, that only the briefest notice of the remaining 
changes and events in our history is necessary. In 

1844, a parsonage on Beall Street was purchased by 
subscription, and the aid of the ladies of the congre- 
gation. In 1847, we find extensive repairs and changes 
were made in the church building under the supervis- 
ion of Messrs. Lyons, W. R. Abbott, H. C. Matthews, 
J. Marbury, and that the ladies of the congregation 
showed their accustomed zeal by raising the means for 
beautifying the church. Two handsome chancel-chairs 
were the gift of Mr. W. W. Corcoran. Easter Mon- 
day, 1845, the vestry was as follows: Messrs. Evan 



CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 199 

Lyons, John Marbury, H. C. Matthews, Levin Jones, 
William B. Boggs, Dr. G. Tyler ; William R. Abbott, 
register ; Mr. Lyons, treasurer ; Col. Stull, and R. J. 
Bowen, wardens. In November, 1850, Mr. Gassaway 
resigned his charge, and removed to Missouri. An 
interval of more than a year elapsed before the Rev. 
David Caldwell entered upon his duties in April, 1851, 
during which Dr. Sparrow filled the pulpit. In May 
of that year, a movement was made to secure a par- 
sonage, the one before purchased having been relin- 
quished on account of a defective title; and through 
the energy of the committee to whom the matter was 
referred, the present commodious rectory was bought 
and furnished. The year after (in 1852), and princi- 
pally through the efforts of Mr. H. C. Matthews, for 
many years an active vestryman, and the efficient 
leader of the choir, a new and very superior organ 
was purchased. In March, 1854, the Rev. Mr. Cald- 
well was compelled to resign his position because of 
increasing ill-health, and four years after he was called 
to rest from his labors. The Rev. Dr. Norwood suc- 
ceeded him on the 20th of April, 1854, and continued 
for seven years rector of the church. The Rev. Mr. 
Harris then took temporary charge of the parish until 
April .1st, 1864, when the Rev. J. H. C. Bonte entered 
upon his duties as rector, and was succeeded by the 
present incumbent on the 27th of May, 1866. Vestry 
in 1860 : Messrs. Marbury, Matthews, Berry, Dr. Sny- 
der, Lyons, Cox, Davidson, Dr. Tyler. Wardens: 
Messrs. Abbott and Knowles. 

" From this brief outline of events, during: the first 



200 CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

fifty years, it will be seen that of the eleven rectors, 
who have ministered in this church, but six are now 
living ; and of the original list of subscribers and pew 
holders, but a single one survives. An entirely new 
generation now occupy their places, and the many 
changes which these passing years have witnessed, ad- 
monish us that we too are ' pilgrims and strangers,' 
and call us to prepare for that eternal world to which 
we are so fast hastening. 

" Time allows me to give but the briefest sketch of 
the rebuilding of our present church edifice. The 
lapse of fifty years had left its marks upon the house 
our fathers built; and it was felt that something was 
needed to adapt it to the enlarged wants of the con- 
gregation. Our homes showed a large increase in ele- 
gance, and comfort, and expense, and it was but right 
that God's house should keep pace with our increased 
prosperity, and be the exponent of our gratitude for 
the privilege and blessing so long enjoyed here. With 
great unanimity it was determined by the vestry, at a 
meeting held on January 28, 1867, to solicit plans and 
estimates for the improvement of the church. On the 
20th of March, the plan of the present building was 
selected, and a committee appointed to wait on the 
congregation and solicit subscriptions. They were 
met by a liberal response on the part of the congrega- 
tion, over thirteen thousand dollars being at once sub- 
scribed. Feeling fully justified in beginning opera- 
tions, having thirty additional pews to fall back upon 
for any expenses outside of the estimates, contracts 
were entered into. The last service held in the old 



CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 201 

church was on Sunday night, May 26, 1867. The fol- 
lowing week the work was begun. On the 15th of 
July, the corner-stone of the old church was removed 
to its present position at the northeast corner of the 
tower, and there was deposited in it the journal of the 
diocesan convention for the year 1867 ; the minutes 
of the vestry authorizing the construction of the 
church; the names of the rector, vestrymen, ward- 
ens, building committee, architects, and contractor ; 
some United States fractional currency, and city 
papers. 

" The rector, soon after the work was begun, was 
laid aside by protracted illness from participating in 
the arduous duties of the building committee, of which 
he was the chairman, and did not assume his charge 
until the lecture-room was completed and occupied, 
on the 16th of February, 1868. I may, therefore, the 
more fully bear my testimony to the zeal, and un- 
wearied diligence of the committee, who, at no little 
sacrifice of their time, gave their personal aid and at- 
tention during the progress of the work. The com- 
mittee consisted of Messrs. Matthews, Boggs, Kurtz, 
and Davidson. Upon the treasurer of the committee, 
Mr. C. M. Matthews, the largest part of the burden of 
the undertaking fell ; and I feel that I record but the 
sense of the committee and the vestry, when I say 
that to his unwearied energy, and personal etforts, and 
financial skill, we are largely indebted for the success- 
ful completion of our enlarged, improved, and beau- 
tiful church edifice. Upon the well-known taste and 
judgment of Capt. W. B. Boggs the building com- 



202 CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

mittee largely depended, especially in the ornamenta- 
tion of the church. Unlooked for delays and difficul- 
ties were experienced, but I rejoice to bear witness to 
the united spirit on the part of the whole congrega- 
tion, which has enabled us to surmount them ; they 
have not only served to call forth greater liberality 
and self-sacrifice in behalf of the church, and revealed 
much undeveloped strength, but, I trust under God's 
blessing, have qualified us for a higher place of use- 
fulness and a greater consecration to His service. To 
the ladies, as is the case in every good work, we are 
also largely indebted. Many years ago some of them 
raised, by their efforts, a fund which was kept for the 
purpose of building a lecture-room, and which, amount- 
ing to thirteen hundred dollars, was handed over to 
the building committee for that object. The ladies of 
the Christ Church Sewing Society (organized in Octo- 
ber after I took charge), by their needle and other ef- 
forts, raised also nine hundred dollars, which was de- 
voted to the use of the church building, and in addi- 
tion to this, they carpeted the aisles and chancel, fur- 
nished the desk and pulpit, and, together with liberal 
donations from two of the members, procured a costly 
stained-glass window for the church, showing, as the 
result of their work for two years, the sum of two 
thousand dollars. On the 14th of June last, the pres- 
ent church edifice was first occupied, and the voice of 
supplication and praise resounded in its walls. Such 
are the items and events of our history as a church. 
What wondrous changes have these fifty years wit- 
nessed ? When we first begun our existence, the 



CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 203 

Episcopal Church was small in numbers and influence : 
almost entirely confined to the seaboard and few older 
States, it has now expanded into a communion num- 
bering over forty bishops, two thousand clergy, and 
one hundred and forty thousand communicants, and 
spread its agencies from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
Whatever changes the future may bring, God grant 
to us, as a congregation, that we may cling to, and 
love the old gospel of the grace of God, which the 
saintly Keith first proclaimed in these walls, and wor- 
ship Him in the same simple, solemn way as our fath- 
ers, when they first knelt together here around the 
throne of grace. The old bible, the old liturgy, the 
old doctrines bequeathed to us by the Reformers, in 
the sixteenth century, are our heir-loom and our pre- 
cious heritage. Let us strive to transmit these, unim- 
paired and uncorrupted. We need nothing new to 
adapt the Church to her work of converting souls and 
edifying God's people. What we do need is the out- 
pouring of the Holy Ghost upon the gospel preached, 
that it may be with power and His presence in our 
hearts, that we may adorn that gospel by holiness and 
righteousness of life. 

" May He to whose service this house is dedicated, 
be ever present with his people here, so that it shall, 
indeed, be the house of God, and the gate of heaven 
to many immortal souls. Thus, and thus only, can 
the declaration be verified — 

' ' The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the 
former. ' ' ' 

I herewith give a list of the different rectors who 



204 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

have had charge of the church, and the respective pe- 
riods of their ministry here : 

Eev. Ruel Keith, November 19th, 1817, to Janu- 
ary 29th, 1820; Rev. Charles P. Mcllvaine, March 
8th, 1820, to March 1st, 1825; Rev. H. H. Grey, May, 
19th, 1825, to December 20th, 1828; Rev. J. Thomp- 
son Brooke, March 15th 1829, to March 17th, 1835 ; 
Rev. Philip Slaughter, December — , 1835, to Octo- 
ber 3, 1837; Rev. J. F. Hoff, September 17th, 1838, 
to March 1st, 1843 ; Rev. S. G. Gassaway, April 21st, 
1843, to November 18th, 1850 ; Rev. David Caldwell, 
April 13th, 1851, to March 4th, 1854; Rev. William 
R, Norwood, D. D., April 20th, 1854, to October 4th, 
1861;* Rev. J. H. C. Bonte, April 1st, 1864, to March 
26th, 1866 ; Rev. W. W. Williams, May 27th, 1866, 
to May 28th, 1876; Rev. Albert R. Stuart, May 28th, 
1876, to the present time. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

This church was formerly located on Montgomery 
Street. The original deed for the church is recorded 
in liber E, No. 5, page 238, from Anthony Holmead 
to Lloyd Beall, Richard Parrott and others, trustees. 
The deed is dated March 22, 1800, about which time 
a church was erected on said lot, thirty feet by forty 
feet deep, being one and one-half stories high. In 
course of time the congregation increased, when the 
original building was taken down, and the present 
building (now a public school) erected in its place. 

* From this date ; to October 4th, 1861, until Rev. Mr. Bonte en- 
tered upon the duties of rector, Rev. William A. Harris filled the 
pulpit and was in temporary charge. 



METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 205 

This was about the year 1820. The brick building 
was two stories high, substantial and strong, and an- 
swered the purpose of worship for many years, when 
the congregation sold the church to the Corporation of 
Georgetown for the sum of twelve hundred dollars, 
(as per deed, recorded in liber J. A. S.,No. 11, page 
279, February 17, 1850.) Some defect was in the 
original deed, and the corporation had a new deed 
from the heirs' of Holmead to the trustees of the 
church before they would purchase the same. A new 
building was then contemplated for a church, and the 
ground selected was lot No. 89, in Beall's addition to 
Georgetown, conveyed by David English to John 
Pickrell and others, trustees (as per deed, recorded in 
Liber J. A. S., No. 4, page 226 ; deed dated May 16, 
1849). The building erected on this lot is a spacious 
church, two stories high, the basement being used for 
the Sabbath school, which now numbers two hundred 
and ten scholars, while the main room of the church 
is used for public worship. 

METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 

The founders of this church worshiped formerly in 
St. John's and the Presbyterian Church, and in the 
Lancaster school-room, for one or two years, before 
they erected the present church on Congress Street. 
The lot was purchased by one Butler Cook, trustee of 
one Samuel Robertson, in April, 1829, for the sum of 
ten hundred and thirty-five dollars. The original 
trustees were Leonard Mackall, John Eliason, "Wil- 

27 



206 METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 

liam King, Joseph Libbey, Jeremiah Orme, Gideon 
Davis, and William C. Lipscomb. 

This lot was once in jeopardy, or in danger of being 
lost to the church, by the original owner not paying 
in full the parties he purchased from. A note for the 
deferred payment fell into the hands of the United 
States branch bank, at Norfolk, Virginia ; suit was in- 
stituted to recover the property, but the trustee, Cook, 
eifected a compromise, and it was released and the 
title made perfect. In the meantime, while this diffi- 
culty was pending, it was sold for taxes by the col- 
lector for the Corporation of Georgetown. Mr. W. W. 
Corcoran purchased it for twenty-two dollars, and very 
generously relincmished his title to the church. The 
lot, as originally purchased, was sold for sixty feet 
front, but when measured it only ran out fifty-five feet 
front, and this is all the church holds a title to. The 
trustees endeavored to etfect an act of incorporation, 
so that they might sue and be sued ; sell and purchase 
real estate ; but it never was successfully carried out. 

When the trustees began to build the original 
church the membership was small and comparatively 
poor, and hence were often in straightened circum- 
stances. Their indebtedness to the builders was a 
source of great disquietude ; and in order to close up 
the matter the trustees agreed to give the builders a 
deed of trust for fifteen hundred dollars to secure their 
debt ; but this debt was settled by the individual mem- 
bers giving their notes and paying them at maturity. 
But there was one debt that gave the church some 
trouble, which was due to the late Gideon Davis. 



METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 207 

After his death his executor discovered there was a 
debt due the said Davis by the church for the sum of 
five or six hundred dollars. The church refused to 
pay unless a credit of two hundred dollars was allowed. 
In the meantime the widow of Davis married, and 
the matter was amicably settled without a suit. 

The lot on which the parsonage stands was pur- 
chased of Ninian Beall for the sum of six hundred 
and fifteen dollars, on May 1st, 1839. The trustees 
who made the purchase were William King, Joseph 
Libbey, Jeremiah Orme, Thomas Jewell, Fritz J. 
Bartlett, Thomas A. Newman, and John E. Cox. One 
fact in the purchase of this lot was quite commend- 
able. The ladies of the church paid nearly the whole 
purchase-money. They also organized themselves 
into a sewing society, while the male members organ- 
ized a sinking-fund, which worked well and gradually 
released the church from debt. Upon this lot con- 
nected with the church the lecture room was built in 
1857, at a cost of seventeen hundred dollars, which 
was enlarged in 1867, at nearly the same cost. The 
present house of worship was enlarged and beautified 
in 1867, and dedicated in February, 1868 ; the cost of 
which exceeded the cost of the original church, the 
parsonage, and lecture room combined, and, after a 
hard struggle, this church is nearly free from debt. 

The church was dedicated in 1830, when Rev. W. 
W. Wallace was in charge of this station. The open- 
ing sermon was preached to a large audience. The 
choir was quite a feature in the dedication. It was led 
by W. C. Lipscomb, with a corps of practical singers. 



208 METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 

The Rev. Mr. Snether preached the opening sermon. 
The second dedication was during the Rev. Mr. Sher- 
mer's administration. In February, 1868, the Rev. 
Augustus Webster preached the dedicatory sermon. 
The Rev. Mr. Bowers preached a sermon for a collec- 
tion in aid of the church, which was quite successful. 
The parsonage was built by the strenuous efforts of 
the Rev. Levi R. Reese, the pastor, in 1841. The 
whole cost did not reach four thousand dollars. An 
error was committed in building. There was quite a 
hill ; and they cut a part of the hill down and made 
a basement under ground, and ever since the walls 
have been damp. The rooms have low ceiling. How- 
ever, the modern style of architecture had not at that 
time been introduced. The lecture or school-room 
was commenced by Thomas A. Newman, the then 
superintendent of the sabbath school, and finished by 
his successor, the late John T. Bangs. The school,for- 
merly met in the gallery of the church, which, being 
too large for comfort, the superintendent and teachers 
determined to build, and they did so. The choir of this 
church is an attraction. There have never been but 
four leaders of the choir since the church was organ- 
ized in 1828. The Rev. William C. Lipscomb was 
the first. He taught music for the benefit of the church ; 
and the singing under so skillful a leader was quite 
an attraction. After he moved away from town, he 
was succeeded by others. 

I will now give a list of the different ministers who 
have had charge of the church, and the respective pe- 
riods of their ministry here : Rev. William W. Wal- 



GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 209 

lace, 1829 to 1830 ; Rev. Dennis B. Dorsey, 1830 to 
1831; Rev. Frederick Styer, 1831 to 1832; Rev. 
Thomas H. Stockton, 1832 to 1835 ; Rev. John W. 
Porter, 1835 to 1836 ; Rev. Josiah Yarden, 1836 to 
1837 ; Rev. Augustus Webster, 1837 to 1839 ; Rev. 
Bignal Appleby, 1839 to 1840 ; Rev. Levi R, Reese, 
1840 to 1843 ; Rev. John G. Wilson, 1843 to 1845 ; 
Rev. Joseph Varclen, 1845 to 1847; Rev. William 
Collier, 1847 to 1849 ; Rev. John Everest, 1849 to 
1850; Rev. J. J. Murray, 1850 to 1851; Rev. S. R. 
Cox, 1851 to 1853; Rev. J. B. Southerlancl, 1853 to 
1855 ; Rev. Dr. Murray, 1855 to 1857 ; Rev. David 
Wilson, 1857 to 1859 ; Rev. Washington Roby, 1859 
to 1861 ; Rev. Daniel E. Reese, 1861 to 1863 ; Rev. 
Daniel Bowers, 1863 to 1865 ; Rev. D. A. Shermer, 
1866 to 1867 ; Rev. Dr. Bates, 1868 to 1871 ; Rev. 
T. D. Valiant, 1871 to 1875 ; Rev. J. T. Murray, D. D., 
1875 to the present time. 

GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

The German Lutheran Church, situated at the cor- 
ner of High and Fourth Streets, had its origin in this 
way : Col. Charles Beatty, one of the original founders 
of the town, had, in 1769, set apart the lot of ground 
in question, for the sole use and benefit of the Luth- 
eran Church, and caused the same to be so entered 
and designated on the plat of the town. Soon after- 
wards, the lot was taken possession of by the German 
Lutherans, inclosed, and a school-house erected there- 
on, and was used by the members of the church as a 
burying ground for upwards of fifty years. During 



210 GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

all that time, neither their possession nor title had been 
questioned, and Colonel Charles Beatty died without 
making a conveyance of said lot to the trustees of the 
church, leaving Charles A. Beatty his heir at law. 
The Court decided " that they could not decree a con- 
veyance of the lot to the trustees, but as they had been 
in possession of the lot for fifty years, and have used 
it as a church lot and burying ground, and as the do- 
nor, Charles Beatty, and his son and heir at law have 
declared that the lot belongs to the Lutherans, the 
Court thinks that the defendants cannot now conscien- 
tiously turn the complainants out of possession, and 
will therefore decree a perpetual injunction." 

Affirmed by the Supreme Court of United States. 
2d Peters, page 566. See, also, 2d Cranch, Circuit 
Court Reports, page 699. 

The subsequent history of the church is detailed in 
a letter addressed to the chronicler by the Rev. John 
J. Suman, its former pastor, which we here insert : 

" The condition of the Lutheran Church for the past 
half century, has been rather deplorable. In the mem- 
ory of the oldest inhabitant (Mr. Hurdle), there has 
not been any regular preaching of the gospel by min- 
isters of that denomination, until very recently. The 
lot on which the present building is erected, was for a 
long time unenclosed, and the resting places of the 
sacred dead were trampled upon by the unhallowed 
feet of man and beast. These things, it was thought, 
ought not to be ; and a determination was arrived at 
that they should not longer so exist — ' For the people 
had a mind to work.' 



GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 211 

" Some time in the year , a number of per- 
sons, mostly among the German population, raised the 
means to aid in putting up the present building, un- 
der the direction of Rev. S. Finckle, D. D., who had 
long been the pastor of the German Church, located 
on the corner of 20th and G Streets, in Washington 
City. The design appears to have been the combin- 
ing of a school (German) with the church, and hold- 
ing the same in the church building. In this they suc- 
ceeded. But, from various causes, the school was not 
a very great success — mismanagement, improper qual- 
ifications in some of the teachers, and want of proper 
support, operated to bring the school into disrepute, 
and prevent its being of any advantage to the church. 

" On the 16th of ^November, 1868, 1 received a very 
pressing invitation to preach for the people who de- 
sired to worship according to the doctrines and usages 
of the Lutheran Church. 

" On Sunday, January 3d, 1869, 1 received a for- 
mal written call to become pastor of the church, which 
I accepted in a note to the trustees. 

" It is proper here to state, that at this time, there 
was no regularly organized congregation of the Luth- 
eran denomination in Georgetown. The people (mostly 
Germans) were held together by an association, seem- 
ing to have for its object the support of the school in 
the church building, as well as to pay off' the debt on 
the latter. 

"It was apparent to all, who at that time worship- 
ped in the building, that, under existing circumstances, 
there was very little prospect of building up a congre- 



212 GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

gation. The school that was held in the building 
kept it in such a filthy condition that persons would 
not attend worship there on that account. Unless a 
change was made in some way the building might as 
well have been closed, so far as Lutheran interests were 
concerned. But the question was, how was this change 
to be ett'ectecl ? For the pastor to inaugurate an effort 
to make a change would antagonize him with the 
Germans. This was not to be thought of. Just at 
this moment, to put it in its mildest form, the miscon- 
duct of the teacher of the school induced the trustees 
of the building to close the same against the teacher ; 
and this formed the entering wedge to accomplishing 
the desire of the people worshiping there. 

" On the 24th day of January, 1869, 1 was installed, 
by Rev. George Diehl, D. D., as the first regular pas- 
tor of the new church. It was a great day for us few 
Lutherans. 

" On the 27th day of February, 1870, at a meeting 
of the trustees of the church, James Gosler, George 
Wetzrich, Henry Wirner, John C. Kiser, and Henry 
Kiser, and myself as secretary, it was resolved, That 
hereafter the church building be devoted exclusively 
to church purposes. Truth requires it to be stated that 
this caused disaffection among the body of Germans. 
Their hearts were fixed upon the school, and its discon- 
tinuance was a great disappointment to them, and 
caused some veiw bitter feeling. 

" On Sunday, June 5th, 1870, the church, having 
been repaired, repainted, papered, and renovated, was 
re-dedicated to the worship of Almighty God. Drs. 



BAPTIST CHURCH. 213 

Butler, Finckle, and Bates participated in the exercises. 
The Masonic Choir leading the singing for us. 

" At the time of my taking charge of the church 
there was a debt of about one thousand eight hundred 
dollars resting thereon, and we have been reducing 
that debt some. At the meeting of the synod of Mary- 
land, at Emmitsburg, they appropriated five hundred 
dollars towards the payment of this debt, to be raised 
during the synodical year, which was afterwards raised 
and paid. 

" At this time, arrangements were also made by 
which Rev. George N. Nixdorff was to visit the George- 
town church, and if he were pleased, he was to b'ecome 
our pastor. Meanwhile, a congregation had been reg- 
ularly and constitutionally organized — small in num- 
ber — twelve persons. Rev. Nixdorff visited us, was 
pleased, and on the first Sunday in April, 1871, he 
preached his first sermon as pastor of the church. 

BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The Gay Street Baptist Church was organized June 
19, 1866. The following persons composed its con- 
stituent members, viz : B. P. Nichols, J. C. Nichols, 
A. M. Appier, J. G. Hedgman, J. "W. Haney, "W. B. 
Brittain, James Nelson, Susannah Nichols, Susan Mat- 
tox, Helen M. Appier, and Susan Nelson. 

The church was formally recognized July 9, 1866, 
by a council, of which G. W. Samson, D. D., A. D. 
Gillette, D. D., J. Berg, C. C. Maddox, and S. R. 
White were members. 

The church worshiped for over two years in a chapel 

28 



214 COLORED CHURCHES. 

on Market Street, the use of which was courteously 
granted by the Bridge Street Presbyterian Church. 
The house of worship at the corner of Gay and Con- 
gress Streets was dedicated October 11, 1868. This 
property was secured to the church in a large measure 
through the liberality of Mr. James S. Welch, and a 
legacy from the late John McCutchen of live thou- 
sand dollars. 

Rev. James Nelson was the first pastor, and served 
the church until March 1, 1872. He was succeeded 
by Dr. A. J. Huntington, who resigned July 1, 1874. 
Rev. G; W. Beale became pastor December 1, 1874, 
and continues to the present time. The number of 
members at present is seventy-three. 

COLORED CHURCHES. 

Mount Zion. Methodist Episcopal Church is located 
on lot jSTo. 78, in Hoi mead's addition to the town, and 
is thirty-five by fifty feet. The deed is recorded in 
liber A. H., No. 33, page 10, from "William Morgan 
to Henry Foxall and others, dated June 3d, 1814, 
when the building was commenced. 

Ebenezer Church is located. on Beall Street, be- 
tween Montgomery and Monroe Streets ; was erected 
in 1856 ; number of members, one hundred and fifty ; 
Sabbath school, one hundred and sixty, with two super- 
intendents and seventeen teachers. 

The Colored Baptist Church is located on the corner 
of Dunbarton and Monroe Streets. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Georgetown College — The Monastery and Academy of the 
Visitation — Georgetown Collegiate Institute — Peabody 
Library and Linthicum Institute — Public Schools. 

The historical sketch of Georgetown College is from 
the pen of Reverend J. S. Sumner, S. J., editor of 
the College Journal. It is such a full and accurate 
description of the old institution, that to abridge it 
would be doing injustice to the author as well as to 
this venerable institution of learning, therefore the 
chronicler inserts it in full. 

" So little is known by the present generation of 
students of the past history of the college, and so 
many demands are made from time to time by others 
for a brief sketch of it, that we think we cannot do 
better than transfer to our columns a suitable article 
which appeared in the Washington Daily Patriot in 
June, 1871, and which was prepared, we believe, by a 
graduate of '63. It is proper, perhaps, to correct an 
error the writer has fallen into in stating that the north 
building was erected in 1808. It had remained in a 
partially finished condition up to that time, but it was 
really built in 1791, and nearly completed in 1795. 
From sundry entries in the old account-books (almost 
the only existing material for reference in the matter 
of our early history), we judge that students began to 
lodge in it in December, 1797. On the first of that 



216 GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 

month there were fifty-nine boarders in the college, 
and certainly' they must have been greatly cramped 
for room in the attic of the old college, the only place 
where it seems possible they could have been accom- 
modated. 

" Father John Early, who was president when this 
sketch was written, died May 23d, 1873, and was im- 
mediately succeeded by our present superior, Father 
P. F. Healy, who had been prefect of studies since 
1868 (an office he continues to hold), and vice-presi- 
dent, besides, since 1869. 

" Founded before the city of Washington existed, 
Georgetown College (since the year 1815, when it was 
raised to the rank of a university, with the power of 
conferring degrees in any of the faculties), has been 
one of the most cherished institutions of the District 
of Columbia, fruitful as is the latter in noted associa- 
tions and localities. The Alma Mater of hundreds 
of distinguished and meritorious citizens of the Repub- 
lic — not one of whom fails to hold in reverence the 
old walls in which he drew the inspirations of learn- 
ing and morality — the college in the present, as in the 
past, has gathered to itself young men not only from 
all parts of the country, but also from Mexico, South 
America, and the West Indies. Its best tribute is 
rendered in the high character of its graduates — men 
who have carried with them to their distant and nearer 
homes, after so many successive ' commencements,' 
the training of high scholarship and the promptings 
of an honorable ambition. As year by year it has 
opened its gates in farewell to its departing pupils, it 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 217 

has done so with the consciousness that in preparing 
them for the arduous duties of practical life, it has no 
less thoroughly performed its duty than secured the 
love and veneration of those who are graduating 
from it. 

" It is not necessary to speak of the great ability as 
instructors and the profound erudition of the gentle- 
men, members of the Society of Jesus — always the 
firm champions of education — who conduct, and are 
connected with the institution. The names of its suc- 
cessive presidents, from the Rev. Eobert Plunkett, in 
the year 1791, to that of its present distinguished and 
respected head, Rev. John Early, furnish a list of men, 
eminent for learning and piety, who, as they have from 
time to time appeared to guide the destinies of the 
college, have endeared themselves to the community 
in which they have lived, and to those who have been 
placed under their charge. 

" In recalling some of these former presidents, the 
mind contemplates many of the most deserving — as 
they are among the best known of the clergy of the 
Catholic Churcli in America — men well-beloved in 
their days of service in the cause of education, and 
whose memories — those of the living and of the dead 
— are faithfully cherished. We should like here to 
open up the past for a moment, and speak of these 
men whose names and histories are so intimately con- 
nected with much of the greatness and glory of the 
past years of Georgetown College. We should like 
to speak of Father Dubourg, who was president in 
1796, afterwards Bishop of New Orleans, and later 



218 GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 

Archbishop of Besancon, in France ; of the univer- 
sally-loved Father William Mathews, for so many 
years pastor of St. Patrick's Church, in "Washington ; of 
Fathers Benedict and Enoch Fen wick, the good broth- 
ers, the former afterwards Bishop of Boston ; of Fath- 
ers James Ryder, Thomas Mulledy, Charles Henry 
Stonestreet, John Early, and Bernard A. Maguire, 
men who, each in his way, have done so much to add 
to the efficiency and reputation of Georgetown Col- 
lege, and the last mentioned of whom still freshly 
bears the multiplied laurels of long years of presi- 
dency of the institution, as he enjoys the widespread 
reputation of a brilliant orator, an accomplished gen- 
tleman, and a churchman of renown. 

" A few words regarding the history of Georgetown 
College wull prove interesting. The site of the pres- 
ent institution, on the heights just beyond Georgetown, 
was selected by the Rev. John Carroll, first Arch- 
bishop of Baltimore, shortly after the American Revo- 
lution. In the year 1789, the first building was erected. 
It still stands : the old building that occupies the cen- 
tral position in the south row. Two years after the 
schools were opened with Rev. Robert Plunkett as first 
president of Georgetown College. The college now 
progressed auspiciously, so much so, that in due course 
of time — namely, in 1808 — the long and spacious 
building on the north side of the grounds was erected. 
Under Rev. Leonard Neale, (subsequently the second 
Archbishop of Baltimore, who succeeded Father Du- 
bourg in 1799), the complete college course was ar- 
ranged, the college having, in 1806, passed under the 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 219 

control of the Society of Jesus, who thus introduced 
the excellent educational system peculiar to that order. 
" Up to the construction of the north building, where 
now are the ' big boys' ' dormitories, the library, the 
parlors, the apartments of the principal officers of the 
college, the reading room, the 'jug,' etc., it had been 
customary for the pupils to board with families in 
Georgetown, but the building of this finely-arranged 
structure afforded all the accommodation within 
' bounds ' necessary at the time. It is built after the 
model of a chateau in France, and, with its two towers, 
presents a very handsome and venerable appearance. 
On May 1, 1815, Congress chartered the ' Georgetown 
College,' which was then raised to the position of a 
university. On January 17, 1830, the Philodemic So- 
ciety was founded by the Rev. James Ryder, at that 
time vice-president of the college. More space being 
found necessary about this time to afford due accom- 
modation to the largely increasing number of pupils, 
who began to flock to the college even from beyond 
the limits of the Union, the college buildings were en- 
larged in 1831, (Rev. Thomas Mulledy, of Virginia, 
being president), by the erection of the large western 
wing of the south row, where now are chapel, dining- 
room, and study-room of the older students. At the 
same time the western half of the present infirmary 
was erected, and the grounds of the college, including 
that beautiful, umbrageous, and extensive promenade 
known as the ' college walks,' were greatly improved 
and beautified. These walks are a lasting and peren- 
nial adornment to the surroundings of the college.. 



220 GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 

In 1843, the astronomical observatory of the college 
was built, under the presidency of Rev. James Ryder, 
and in 1845 — Father Mulledy, being president for the 
second time — the well-known villa buildings were pur- 
chased as a spot for summer recreation for teachers 
and students. In 1848, the infirmary building was 
finished. The political agitations of this year in 
Europe induced many able members of the Society 
of Jesus to emigrate to this country. This brought 
an accession of very learned men to the college, such 
as Fathers Sestini, Secchi, De Vico, and others, who 
have written and published several books on educa- 
tional topics since their connection with the college. 
About this time (Father Ryder being president for the 
third time), the college gas works and baths were con- 
structed, and, in 1851, that admirably conducted feat- 
ure of the institution, the medical department of 
Georgetown College, now in successful operation in this 
city, was established. Rev. Charles H. Stonestreet suc- 
ceeded Father Ryder in the presidency in 1851, but 
having been appointed Provincial of the Society of 
Jesus, after one year's service be was succeeded by the 
popular Father Maguire, who, at the early age of 
thirty-four years, entered upon his first term of presi- 
dent. Under Father Maguire's presidency the college 
prospered greatly. The number of students increased, 
and important material additions were made to the 
college grounds and surroundings. The large new 
building for the ' small boys,' situated at the eastern 
end of the south row, was erected in 1854. A fine 
green house was built, and extensive gardens were 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 221 

laid out. Father Maguire continued to occupy the 
president's office until 1858, when he was succeeded 
by the Rev. John Early, who now so acceptably fills 
that position. 

" The breaking out of the civil war in 1861, se- 
riously hampered the progress of the college. For 
several weeks, namely, up to July 4th, the peaceful 
grounds and buildings of the college were used as a 
barracks for soldiers ; the sixty-ninth and seventy-ninth 
regiments of JSTew York volunteers having been quar- 
tered there. In 1862, after the battle of Bull Run, 
the college was again seized upon by the military au- 
thorities, and was converted into a hospital. In 1863 
the college was relieved of this burden, and commenced 
anew its career of prosperity. In 1866 Father Early 
retired, and was succeeded by Father Maguire, who 
thus entered upon his second term, to be again suc- 
ceeded by Father Early, in whose able hands, as in that 
of his immediate predecessor, the renewed prosperity 
of old Georgetown College, recovered from the dam- 
aging effects of the war, became, as it continues to be, 
a source of sincere gratification to its legions of friends. 

"So far our extract. The article ought to have 
added that the law department of Georgetown Col- 
lege was organized in 1870, under Father Maguire's 
administration. In his time, also, the members of the 
graduating class were assigned rooms. This arrange- 
ment, after five years satisfactory experience, may be 
considered as a permanent one. 

" Under the present administration, many desirable 
changes and improvements have been added. The 

29 



222 GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 

study of Chemistry, which was formerly confined to 
a single year, and that the graduating year, now cov- 
ers two years, beginning with Inorganic in Poetry, and 
concluding with Organic in Rhetoric. This arrange- 
ment leaves more time to the Philosophers for the 
studies appropriate to their year. A course of Eng- 
lish Literature under a special Professor, is also em- 
braced in the years of Poetry and Ehetoric. Provis- 
ion has been made, besides, for students of English in 
less advanced classes. Formerly, every student was 
obliged to conform to the regular curriculum, embrac- 
ing Greek and Latin, and none were admitted on other 
conditions. 

" Now, those who wish to pursue English branches 
alone, and do not aspire to graduation, are provided 
for, and consequently fewer eligible applicants are 
turned away. Exercises in Declamation in presence 
of the assembled classes take place monthly, each 
speaker being criticised by those of his fellow-students 
who are called on by the president for their opinion, 
the president afterwards adding his own. By these 
means, greater excellence in Declamation is acquired, 
and is attainable by a larger number than under the 
old system of theatrical performances, discarded some 
years since. Class hours have been changed to suit 
the convenience of day scholars, and greatly to the 
physical advantage of the boarders, chiefly by giving 
them a longer recess between the breakfast-hour and 
the commencement of school duties. With the same 
view of health and comfort, the old penal confinement 
of ' The Jug,' alluded to in the above sketch, has been 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 223 

abolished, the dinner-hour has been set back, and 
many other conveniences have been introduced which 
it is unnecessary to describe in detail, but which are 
strongly in contrast with the quasi monastic discipline 
of former years. While physical development and 
the needs of recreation are further promoted by the 
two well-appointed gymnasiums, for the larger and the 
smaller boys respectively, put up by the college, and 
the two billiard-tables provided for the larger and one 
for the smaller students, as well as by the Boat Club 
organization got up by the students themselves. The 
course of studies is allowed to suffer no detriment, 
but is promoted as occasion demands. A special im- 
pulse has been given of late, in the direction of science, 
historical enquiry, polemical skill, and mathematical 
proficiency, by the donation on the part of friends of 
the college and of the president, of medals in reward 
for successful efforts in each of these directions. Fur- 
ther developments, towards which preliminary steps 
have been taken, are in contemplation, but must for 
the most part await complete realization until the ad- 
ministration is able to erect new buildings, the plans 
of which are now undergoing final consideration. 

" The following is the succession of presidents of 
Georgetown College : 

" Rev. Robert Plunket, October 1st, 1791, to June 
13th, 1793; immediately succeeded by Rev. Robert 
Molyneux, to September 30th, 1796 ; after whom fol- 
lowed Rev. ¥m. G. Dubourg, to March 29th, 1799, 
who subsequently assisted in organizing St. Mary's 
College, Baltimore. Rev. Leonard Neale then occu- 



224 GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 

pied the presidency until September 30th, 1806, hav- 
ing meanwhile, in 1800, been made coadjutor to the 
Bishop of Baltimore. These appointments were all 
made by Bishop John Carroll, the founder of the col- 
lege. In 1806, the Society of Jesus was re-organized 
and the college committed to its care. Rev. Robert 
Molyneux, the first Superior of the Jesuits, became 
president of the college, October 1st, 1806, and died 
in office, December 9th, 1808. He was succeeded by 
Rev. William Matthews, a former student of the col- 
lege, who held office until June 10th, 1810. Rev. 
Francis Neale had been appointed vice-president of 
the college, January 1st, 1800; and December 11th, 
1810, became president, and remained to September 
30th, 1812. Rev. John A. Grassi, S. J., under whom 
the college developed into a university, succeeded. 
He was, during the same period, Superior of the Mary- 
land Jesuits. Rev. Benedict J. Fenwick, S. J., a for- 
mer student, became president on the retirement of 
Father Grassi, July 31st, 1817. On October 31st, 
1818, he was succeeded by Rev. Anthony Kohlman, 
S. J. (Superior of the Jesuits, 1817 to 1821), until Sep- 
tember loth, 1820. Rev. Enoch Fenwick, S. J., also 
a former student, filled up the interval until the return 
of his brother, Benedict, September 15th, 1822, who 
served until his appointment to the Bishopric of Bos- 
ton in 1825. Rev. Stephen L. Dubuisson, S. J., fol- 
lowed him, September 9th, 1825, to July 7th, 1826; 
when Rev. William Feiner, S. J., became president, 
and gave place March 30th, 1829 (a few weeks before 
his death), to Rev. John Beschter, S. J. Father Besch- 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 225 

ter held office only until September 13th, of the same 
year, and was succeeded by Rev. Thomas F. Mulledy, 
S. J., a former student, until December 23d, 1837, 
when he became Provincial of Maryland. Father 
Mulledy's predecessor as provincial, Rev. William 
McSherry, S. J., another student of Georgetown Col- 
lege, was his successor as president, and died in office 
December 18th, 1839. Rev. Joseph A. Lopez, S. J., 
filled up the interval to April 30th, 1840, and died six 
months after. Rev. James Ryder, S. J., then held the 
presidency to January 3d, 1845, and was succeeded 
by Rev. Samuel F. Mulledy, S. J., who gave place to 
his brother Thomas, for a second term, from Septem- 
ber 6th, 1845, to August 7th, 1848. Father Ryder 
then returned to the presidency until August 1st, 1851. 
Rev. Charles H. Stonestreet, S. J., an alumnus of the 
college, was then president until August 15th, 1852. 
when he was made Provincial of Maryland. Fathers 
Maguire and Early then alternately held office, each 
two terms, until 1873, nearly nineteen years. We 
trust that their successor, Father Healy, an alumnus 
of Holy Cross, the prosperous daughter of George- 
town, may still preside at Georgetown when her cen- 
tennial is reached." 

The faculty of the college, ever keeping time with 
the advancement of education, and training the youth- 
ful mind to become men in the future, and to do their 
part in the affairs of life, are not unmindful that a 
spacious building is necessary to accommodate the in- 
creasing number of students coming to the college from 
all parts of the country. A building is now being 



226 MONASTERY AND ACADEMY OP VISITATION. 

erected, which, for magnificent proportions and dura- 
bility, will be a credit to the college and an ornament 
to the town. The length of the building is three hund- 
red and seven feet, and occupies the whole front of 
the college grounds between the north and south 
wings. The altitude is seventy feet nine and one- 
half inches ; depth is ninety feet at the north end, sixty- 
three feet and eight inches at the south end, and forty- 
nine feet in the middle. The building, when com- 
pleted with the two wings, will form the three sides 
of a square. The number of windows are two hund- 
red and ninety-two, five feet by ten. The number of 
doors in the interior, nine. Number of rooms in the 
whole building, eighty-two Some of them will be oc- 
cupied by the library ; others will be used by the fac- 
ulty of the college as parlors and class rooms, and 
various rooms for the professors in different branches 
of learning. The number of brick to be used in the 
construction of the building is estimated at two mil- 
lions. The quantity of stone called blue gneiss, which 
is quarried from the banks of the Potomac River, will 
be five, thousand cubic yards used in the construction 
of the front and sides of the college. 

MONASTERY AND ACADEMY OF THE VISITATION. 

Our chronicles would be imperfect if we omitted a 
sketch of a very important institution in our town 
called the " Monastery," where ladies live in single 
blessedness. About the year 1792, some sisters belong- 
to the order of " Pon "Clares," driven from France by 
the horrors of the French Revolution, sought refuge 



MONASTERY AND ACADEMY OP VISITATION. 227 

in Maryland. The names of the sisters were Maria 
de La Marche, Abbess of the order of St. Clare, Ce- 
leste la Blonde, de La Eochefoncault, and de 

St. Luc. They took up their abode in Georgetown. 
In 1801 they purchased a lot of ground on Fayette 
Street, in said town, of John Threlkeld. They en- 
deavored to support themselves by opening a school, 
but they had to struggle constantly with poverty ; and 
on the death of the Abbess, in 1805, Madame de La 
Rochefoncault, who succeeded her, sold the convent 
to Bishop ISTeale, by deed of June 29, 1805, and re- 
turned to Europe with her companion. These poor 
"Clares " had been aided in their labors by Miss Alice 
Lalor, from Philadelphia (but originally from Ireland), 
and one or two other pious ladies from the same city. 
They had, for a time, occupied a small frame house, 
the site of which is enclosed in the present convent 
grounds. Bishop Neale, immediately after purchas- 
ing the Clarist convent in 1805, installed there these 
" pious ladies," as they were then called, and by deed 
of June 9, 1808, confirmed June 9, 1812, transferred 
the property to Alice Lalor, Maria McDermott, and 
Mary Neale. 

Such was the origin of the Visitation Nuns in the 
United States. This institution had its trials. In 
1824 its financial embarrassments were so great, and 
the poverty of the community was so extreme, that 
they came to the resolution of dispersing. But at 
this juncture relief came. A wealthy Spanish mer- 
chant of New York, the late John B. Lasaler, sent 
two daughters to the convent, paying several years 



228 MONASTERY AND ACADEMY OP VISITATION. 

board in advance. This timely aid enabled them to 
continue their school ; and other assistance came after- 
wards. It was not until 1816 that the institution was 
regularly established as a Visitation Convent. 

Connected with the monastery is a ladies' academy, 
which ranks among the first educational institutions 
in the country. The buildings are extensive ; front- 
ing three hundred feet on the west side of Fayette 
Street, also the same distance on Third and Fourth 
Streets, occupying nearly a square of ground. They 
have also added to their possessions the tract of land 
formerly owned by the late John Threlkeld, one of 
the original founders of the town, where are cultivated 
all the vegetables and fruits used in the institution ; 
and the grounds are laid out in serpentine walks, 
around which the ladies promenade for exercise. 
Thus, from a small beginning, this institution has be- 
come one of the wealthiest of our town, without call- 
ing upon the "Woman's Rights Convention for any as- 
sistance or aid whatever. 

The chronicler had the pleasure, many years past, 
to witness at the Monastery the taking of the vail by 
four young ladies (whose names he will not mention, 
as it might be a breach of politeness to place the 
names of ladies in print without their consent). It 
was on the 4th day of July, 1840, at six o'clock in 
the morning, when the chapel of the monastery was 
opened, and from that hour the congregation began 
to assemble. The small and beautifully ornamented 
chapel, which the sisters had decorated, with evidence 
of accomplishment, and taste, with its dim light burn- 



MONASTERY AND ACADEMY OP VISITATION. 229 

ing before the altar, the solemnity rendered more im- 
pressive by the number of silent worshipers who were 
present, and by the voices of the unseen choir whose 
chant filled the air, had an effect to prepare the mind 
for this interesting ceremony. Soon the chapel filled. 
One of the sisters threw back the curtain which shaded 
the grating that separated the chapel from the con- 
vent, when every eye was turned in that direction. 
All the nuns were seen to enter in a long procession, 
and to kneel down the whole length of the aisles, with 
their heads bent towards the ground in an attitude of 
humility. Presently, the ladies who were to take the 
vail were led towards the grating ; the chanting ceased, 
and the organ, touched by a master hand, filled the 
air with its music. The ladies who were the all- 
absorbing interest of the ceremony were young, 
beautiful, and tastefully arrayed in white. The an- 
them ceased ; when the Archbishop, in his canonicals, 
advanced to the front of the altar, and eloquently ad- 
dressed the congregation and the novices who were 
about to enter as members of the Sisters of the Visita- 
tion. When the discourse was finished, the Arch- 
bishop gave a blessing : after which the novices one 
by one answered the questions which prepared them 
to renounce the world ; then coming forward for the 
last time, their baptismal names were renounced and 
they received their new titles. Thus they passed away 
from the gaze of their relatives and friends, and the 
sight of the world, of which their beauty and accom- 
plishments would have rendered them the admiration 
and the ornament. The whole sisterhood received 

30 



230 GEORGETOWN COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE. 

them; when the peals of the organ again filled the 
church, and the dark folds of the falling curtain shut 
them, forever perhaps, from the public sight. They 
abandoned the cares and vexations of this life, of 
which they were too young to have felt any of its vi- 
cissitudes, to look forward to another world beyond 
the grave. 

GEORGETOWN COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE. 

Georgetown Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies, 
Miss Lucy Stephenson, principal, was first opened for 
the reception of pupils September 9th, 1872. 

This institute has been in successful operation for 
more than six years. During that time it has been 
steadily increasing in favor with the public. Since its 
foundation, fourteen young ladies have graduated, 
having completed the required course of studies. At 
the present time there are seventy-three scholars in 
the institute. In addition to the principal, there are 
eight teachers assisting her in imparting instruction in 
the several branches of study taught. 

The location of the institute is very desirable, sit- 
uated at the southwest corner of Congress and Gay 
Streets. 

PEABODY LIBRARY AND LINTHICUM INSTITUTE. 

Peabody Library and Linthicum Institute, which 
was lately established in our town, owe their origin to 
the liberality of George Peabody •■and E. M. Linthi- 
cum, now deceased. 

As the letters and correspondence show the origin 



PEABODY LIBRARY. 231 

of these institutions, the chronicler avails himself, for 
the benefit of his readers, of copying from the report 
of J. Ormond Wilson, Esq., a history of the above in- 
stitutions, in which can be seen the fertile pen of our 
fellow-citizen, Josiah Dent, Esq., now one of the Com- 
missioners of the District of Columbia : 

" In 1872, when the trustees of the public schools of 
Georgetown were considering the proposition to erect 
in a central locality a school building in which they 
could place their more advanced schools and furnish 
the city with enlarged and improved school facilities, 
it was suggested that two philanthropic gentlemen had 
each given to the city, for educational uses, a consid- 
erable fund which had not been applied, and that all 
of these interests might be united with great mutual 
advantage. The suggestion was favorably received, 
and has since been carried out. 

" It is deemed proper to give some account of the 
transactions in the report ; and I am indebted to the 
courtesy of Mr, A. Hyde, one of the trustees of the 
Peabody Library Association, and of Mr. Josiah Dent, 
president of the Linthicum Institute, for the following 
brief histories : 

PEABODY LIBRARY. 

" This library had its origin in the munificence of 
Mr. George Peabody, and his intentions are fully set 
forth in the following letter : 

" 91 Lafayette Street, Salem, 20th April, 18G7. 
"ToW. W. Corcoran, George W. Riggs, 

A. Hyde, Henry D. Cooke, and William L. Dunlop, Esqs., 

of the District of Columbia. 

" Gentlemen : As most of you are aware, I am, and 



232 PEABODY LIBRARY. 

have been for some time, desirous of making some gift 
which would be productive of benefit to the citizens of 
Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, where I com- 
menced business for myself in early youth. I am per- 
suaded that I cannot better do so than by endeavoring 
to assist them in their own endeavors to cultivate a 
healthful, moral, and intellectual progress; and I 
therefore give to you gentlemen the sum of fifteen 
thousand dollars, to be, by you and your successors, 
held in trust as a fund for a public library, to be 
established in the city of Georgetown. This sum I 
direct to be invested and accumulated until it shall be 
sufficient, in connection with the amount of accrued 
interest, and including any donations from other 
sources, should such be made, to erect a suitable build- 
ing in the city of Georgetown for a public library, to 
which the inhabitants of Georgetown shall have free 
access, under such restrictions and regulations as may, 
by you and your successors, be deemed necessary and 
proper. Should you think it best to keep the funds 
as they are until they shall be sufficient, by accumula- 
tion, as before stated, to erect a building which shall 
not only be suitable for such a library as I have speci- 
fied, but which shall also contain a lecture-room or 
hall for lectures for popular instructions, I give you 
leave to do so. I give you the power to organize, to 
choose a treasurer, and, if necessary, to obtain an act 
of incorporation ; and I direct that an annual report 
of the condition of the fund and amount of income be 
prepared and published by yourselves and your suc- 
cessors. I direct that your board be always composed 



PEABODY LIBRARY. 233 

of five persons, and in case of a vacancy or vacancies 
occurring in your number, I direct that the same be 
filled, by vote of the remainder, as soon thereafter as 
conveniently can be. 

" Please to receive inclosed my check on James Tin- 
ker, Esq., New York, for fifteen thousand dollars, to 
be appropriated as directed in this letter. 

With great respect, I am your humble servant, 

GEORGE PEABODY. 

" The gentlemen named in the foregoing letter met 
in the private office of Mr. Corcoran, May 1, 1867, 
and organized as a board of trustees by electing Mr. 
W. W. Corcoran, president, and Mr. A. Hyde, secre- 
tary. The funds given by Mr. Peabody was ordered 
to be invested in United States securities, and was so 
invested at first, but was subsequently changed to ten 
per cent, mortgages, secured by real estate in Wash- 
ington City. 

" The following reply to Mr. Peabody's letter was 
made : 

" Washington, May 1st, 1867. 
"To George Peabodt, Esq., London, England. 

" Dear Sir : On the 26th April, Mr. Corcoran had 
the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your es- 
teemed favor of the 20th April, addressed to himself 
and others therein named. 

" In pursuance of the directions contained in this 
letter, the trustees met at twelve o'clock this day, at 
Mr. Corcoran's private office, all being present, and 
they organized by the appointment of Mr. Corcoran 
as chairman, Mr. Hyde as secretary, and Mr. Riggs as 



234 PEABODY LIBRARY. 

treasurer ; and, after a full interchange of views, and to 
meet your wishes as understood from your letter, it was 

" Ordered, That the amount to be invested in United 
States five-twenty Treasury notes, registered in the 
name of the trustees; the accruing interest to be in- 
vested in the same securities until further order of the 
trustees. 

" It was also determined to obtain an act of incor- 
poration, as soon as practicable, under the name of 
' The Peabody Library Association of Georgetown,' 
which, we trust, will meet your approbation ; and it 
will be the pleasure of the trustees, whom you have 
honored with the custody and direction of this liberal 
gift to the people of Georgetown, to give full effect to 
your wishes in this behalf, as already expressed, or 
that you may hereafter intimate. 

" On behalf of the people of Georgetown, we ten- 
der you, dear sir, our grateful acknowledgments for 
this benificence, and most sincerely wish that you may 
long be spared to witness the benefits of your enlarged 
liberality to the people of these and other lands, and 
to receive and enjoy the admiration and gratitude of 
those who will be the direct recipients of your bounty, 
as well as of those who can appreciate the inestimable 
benefits that will flow to thousands by your most lib 
eral and enlightened munificence. 

" We are, dear sir, your obedient servants, 

W. W. CORCORAN, 
GEORGE W. RIGGS. 
A. HYDE, 
HENRY D. COOKE, 
WILLIAM L. DUNLOP. 



PEABODT LIBRARY. 235 

" The fund was allowed to accumulate, and an an- 
nual statement of its condition was made at regular 
meetings of the board, and published, in conformity 
with the gift. In November, 1872, the following let- 
ter was received from the board of trustees of public 
schools of Georgetown : 

"To W. W. Corcoran. Anthony Hyde, 

Henry D. Cooke, W. L. Dunlop, and George W. Riggs, 

Trustees of the Peabody Library Fund. 

" Gentlemen : I am directed by the board of school 
trustees of the city of Georgetown, to submit for your 
consideration the following : 

" The authorities of the District of Columbia are 
about to erect a school-house on Second Street, oppo- 
site St. John's Church, in Georgetown, of large dimen- 
sions, to be of as imposing an exterior as is consistent 
with a proper economy. The objects sought to be at- 
tained by the outlay are the advancement of the cause 
of education in the town, the elevation of the public 
school system, and the establishment of better educa- 
tional facilities for the youth of both sexes, and for the 
general benefit and prosperity of the community. 

" To aid in the accomplishment of their purposes, 
and at the same time to open up the only way which 
seems practicable for carrying out, at an early day, 
the designs of Mr. Peabocly for the establishment of a 
library in Georgetown, the board of trustees of the 
public schools propose to set apart a room of sufficient 
dimensions on the ground floor, fronting on Second 
Street, for the purpose of the Peabody Fund, where a 
library may be established, free of rent, under the ab- 



236 PEABODY LIBRARY. 

solute control of your honorable body in every respect, 
with the privilege of withdrawal whenever such action 
is desired. It is also designed to provide accommoda- 
tion for the Linthicum Institute on the same terms, to 
enable the trustees of that fund to ' carry out the ob- 
jects of their trusts. They have already informerly 
expressed their concurrence in the design, and their 
desire to accept such a proposition. 

" Connected with the building will be a commodious 
lecture hall, for general lecture purposes ; and the 
managers of the Linthicum Institute contemplate mak- 
ing provision for popular lectures in connection with 
their other plans. 

"It is, in the judgment of the school authorities, 
safe to predict that the three interests thus combined, 
while they will remain under separate and independent 
control, will be, by this combination, of great and last- 
ing benefit to the town, and open an admirable and 
speedy way for the consummation of the liberal and 
enlightened intentions of the generous doners of the 
respective funds referred to. 

"As it will have a bearing on the plans of the build- 
ing, it is desirable to know, at your earliest conven- 
ience, whether it will be the pleasure of your honora- 
ble body to accept the proposition herein embraced, 
and the board of school trustees would, therefore, ask 
early consideration of the same. 

" I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, 

" Your obedient servant, 

W. W. CURTIS, Secretary. 
" By order of the board of school trustees of Georgetown. 



PEABODY LIBRAET. 237 

" The proposition contained in the foregoing letter 
was very carefully considered, and in due time ac- 
cepted. In the latter part of 1875, a committee, con- 
sisting of Messrs. Hyde, and Dunlop, was appointed, 
with authority to have the rooms properly fitted up 
and furnished, to purchase the books, and to make all 
necessary arrangements for opening the library to the 
public. The committee consulted with Mr. A. B. Spof- 
ford, Librarian of Congress, and are greatly indebted 
for the valuable advice and aid cheerfully given by 
him. The furniture and appointments are all in the 
most approved style, and the book shelves will readily 
hold six thousand volumes. About twelve hundred 
volumes were purchased, and the library was opened 
in March, 1875, under rules and regulations govern- 
ing the Peabody Library Association. 

" Mr. Frank Hyde Barb arm was appointed first li- 
brarian ; but shortly after his appointment was trans- 
ferred to the banking house of Riggs & Co., and Mr. 
Frank D. Johns was appointed in his stead. Although 
so short a time has elapsed since the library was first 
opened, it is already in successful operation, and a 
large number of persons are availing themselves of 
its benefits. The average daily attendance has not 
been less than twenty, and the number is steadily in- 
creasing. The fund now amounts to twenty-five thou- 
sand dollars ; and the treasurer, after paying all ex- 
penses to date, has about two thousand dollars now in 
hand. . . 

" The following is the present list of officers of the 

Peabody Library Association : Trustees — "W. W. Cor- 
31 ' 



238 LINTHICUM INSTITUTE. 

coran, president; George W. Riggs, treasurer; An- 
thony Hyde, secretary ; William L. Dunlop, Henry 
D. Cooke, Sr. Committee on the Library — A. Hyde, 
~W\ L. Dunlop ; Committee on Accounts and Expen- 
ditures — A. Hyde ; Frank D. Johns, librarian ; G. B. 
Wibert, janitor. 

A. HYDE, Secretary. 
" By order of the association, July 30, 1876. 

LINTHICUM INSTITUTE. 

" Edward Magruder Linthicum, to whose liberality 
this institute owes its existence, was born in Montgom- 
ery County, Maryland, on the 16th of July, 1797. 
With no other advantages of education ' than those 
furnished by a country school of the times, he em- 
barked, when quite a youth, in mercantile pursuits in 
Georgetown, District of Columbia, under the auspices 
of his uncle, Doctor Ninian Magruder, a prominent 
citizen of the town. At this period Georgetown was 
a port of considerable commerce. A career of fifty 
years devoted to active business, and distinguished for 
integrity, energy, and prudent sagacity, was crowned 
with abundant success ; and the last five years of his 
life were spent in tranquil retirement. He died at his 
residence on Georgetown heights, on the 30th of Oc- 
tober, 1869, universally respected for his virtues by 
the community who had been the daily witnesses of 
his life from youth to old age. That in his last years, 
free from the cares of business, he was not unmindful 
of duty and of the highest interests of those among 
whom his useful and exemplary life had been spent, 
is attested by the following extract from his last will : 



LINTHICUM INSTITUTE. 239 

" ' Convinced that knowledge and piety constitute 
the only assurance of happiness and healthful prog- 
ress to the human race, devoutly recognizing the sol- 
emn duties to society which devolve on all its mem- 
bers, and entertaining more especially a sincere desire 
to contribute in some measure to the permanent wel- 
fare of the community among whom my life has been 
spent, I give to my friends, Doctor Joshua Riley, Jo- 
siah Dent, William Laird, Jr., William L. Dunlop, 
and "William A. Gordon, Jr., and to their survivors 
and successors forever, the sum of fifty thousand dol- 
lars in trust, to found, establish, and maintain, in 
Georgetown, under such conditions and regulations as 
they may from time to time prescribe and ordain, a 
free school for the education and instruction of indi- 
gent white boys and youths of said Georgetown in use- 
ful learning, and in the spirit and practice of Christian 
virtue ; and I advise and direct that said school fund, 
with all its additions and accretions, except what may 
be required to provide necessary accommodations for 
said school, shall, as favorable opportunity may otter, 
be invested and kept invested in unincumbered real 
estate, situated in said Georgetown, yielding good 
rents, and free from all doubt or dispute as to the 
title thereof on the security of such real estate ; and 
that, in no case of investment on such security, shall 
the sum invested exceed in amount two-thirds of the 
estimated cash value of the property by which it is se- 
cured. And I further request and enjoin my said 
trustees that, whenever from any cause a vacancy may 
exist in their body, the remaining trustees shall, with- 



240 LINTHICUM INSTITUTE. 

out unnecessary delay, fill the same ; so that the num- 
ber of trustees of said school fund shall never be less 
than five ; and that, in order to perpetuate this trust, 
the said trustees shall, as soon as may be, cause them- 
selves to be legally incorporated for the purposes here- 
of, under a suitable name and with all needful powers 
and immunities. And it is my wish, finally, that my 
adopted son, Edward Linthicum Dent, should he at- 
tain to manhood, shall be elected to fill the first va- 
cancy thereafter existing in said board of trustees.' 

" And, by a final provision of his will, Mr. Linthi- 
cum contingently dedicated the entire residue of his 
estate, after payment of a few small legacies, to the 
same beneficent uses. 

"In obedience to the injunction of the testator, the 
trustees, without delay, applied for an act of incor- 
poration to the Congress of the United States, in the 
winter of 1870 ; and a bill for that purpose passed the 
House of Kepresentatives without objection, but, under 
adverse influences, failed in the Senate. The trustees 
then applied to the legislative assembly of the District 
of Columbia for a similar grant, which was duly ac- 
corded to them. Under this charter, the board of 
trustees of the Linthicum Institute of Georgetown was 
formerly organized on the 7th of September, 1872, 
and at once proceeded to arrange for active operations. 

" On the 19th of November, 1872, however, the 
trustees received from the board of trustees of the 
public schools of Georgetown, through J. Ormoncl Wil- 
son, Esq., superintendent, the following overtures for 
the location of the institute in the new school build- 



LINTHICUM INSTITUTE. 241 

ing, the erection of which, on corner of Second and 
Potomac Streets, was then under consideration : 

" To Josiah Dent, Doctor Joshua Riley, W. L. Dunlop, 

W. Laird, Jr., and William A. Gordon, Jr., 

Trustees of the Linthicum Institute. 

" Gentlemen : I am directed, by the board of school 
trustees of the city of Georgetown, to submit for your 
consideration the following : 

" You are already aware, through informal confer- 
ences with the board, of their design to build a large 
and imposing school-house on the premises opposite 
St. John's Church, said premises being situated be- 
tween High and Market Streets, with a width of about 
one hundred and twenty-five feet, extending from Sec- 
ond to Third Streets; the house to cost about sixty 
thousand, and the ground not less than thirteen thou- 
sand. 

" To increase the usefulness of this enterprise, it is 
proposed to set apart, free from rent, a room on the 
ground floor of the main front of said building, for the 
use and purposes of the Linthicum Institute, and also 
one for the establishment of the Peabody Library, so 
arranged as to have each institution under the exclu- 
sive control of the respective boards of trustees, with 
the right to manage their own affairs in their own way, 
and to withdraw therefrom at pleasure. 

" In the department devoted to the purpose of the 
Linthicum Institute, there will be added a laboratory 
and other conveniences for scientific lectures and for 
such school purposes as it is understood the trustees 
design to establish and maintain. 



242 LINTHICUM INSTITUTE. 

" It is proposed to combine under one roof the three 
institutions, each preserving its independency of the 
other, and each, under separate and distinct control, 
believing that the usefulness and efficacy of each will 
thereby be greatly enhanced. 

" To aid in carrying out the proposed plan, the board 
of trustees of the Georgetown schools propose to bor- 
row of the trustees of the Linthicum Institute, the sum 
of fifty thousand dollars, at the rate of eight per cent, 
per annum, payable semi-annually ; the principal to be 
refunded at the pleasure of the board, at any time 
after five years, in sums not less than five thousand dol- 
lars; said payments to be secured on the property to be 
improved, and the money borrowed to be expended 
thereon ; the funds to be placed in the hands of a third 
party, to be expended as needed for the building, and 
to bear interest from the date of delivery, or to be 
taken by the board of school trustees as needed ; and 
the amount so taken to bear interest from the date of 
delivery. It is understood that the fund belonging to 
the Linthicum Institute is' in certain bonds (as stated 
at the informal meeting), and that they are to be re- 
ceived at par by the school authorities. 

" It is important that the board of school trustees 
be informed, at your earliest convenience, of your ac- 
tion in reference to the proposition herein stated. 
" I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, 

your obedient servant, 

W. W. CUKTIS, Secretary. 

"By order of the Board of School Trustees of Georgetown. 

" These overtures were favorably received, and it 



LINTHICUM INSTITUTE. 243 

was finally stipulated that, in consideration of a loan 
by the institute to the public school board of forty thou- 
sand dollars secured by lien or mortgage on the school 
property, suitable accommodations for the use of the 
institute should be provided in the projected school 
building. 

" This arrangement, of course, was productive of 
delay in opening the institute, and also of important 
changes in its plan. It soon became apparent that the 
greater development and increased accommodations 
for common school education in Georgetown, which 
would be secured by the erection of this central and 
spacious school edifice, would satisfy present wants in 
respect to day schools for our children. But there is 
a class of boys and youths of more advanced years, to 
whose circumstances these schools are not suited — 
whose necessities require them to spend the day in 
work rather than in school. And to this class the trust- 
ees turned their attention as the most needy and wor- 
thy beneficiaries of Mr. Linthicum's benevolent pro- 
vision. They concluded to establish an evening school, 
to which, after the daily toil is ended, they may resort 
for such practical instructions as will qualify them for 
the active duties and business of life. So soon, there- 
fore, as the new edifice was ready for occupancy, a 
school was organized with three competent teachers, 
for the instruction of classes from seven to nine o'clock, 
every evening, except Saturday and Sunday, in the 
following studies, viz : Penmanship, Book-keeping, 
Drawing, Arithmetic, Geometry, Chemistry and Phy- 
sics, the two last being taught experimentally. The 



244 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

school was opened auspiciously on the 1st of October, 
1875, in the rooms in the Curtis School Building pro- 
vided for the use of the institute, under the arrange- 
in* .it referred to above. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

^The chronicler, availing himself of the admirable 
report of Samuel Yorke AtLee, Esq., made to the 
board of trustees in 1876, concerning the public schools 
of Georgetown, makes the following extracts in rela- 
tion to public education, showing how the system com- 
menced and gradually progressed in the town. 

LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL. 

" Georgetown had been settled sixty years before 
public attention was turned to the necessity of edu- 
cation, and it is especially worthy of notice that the 
movement originated amongst the people. 

"About a hundred citizens, neither so rich or so 
poor as to be indifferent to the general welfare, formed 
themselves into a society for the purpose of imparting 
to the citizens of Georgetown ' the advantages of edu- 
cation according to the system devised by Joseph Lan- 
caster;" and for defraying the expenses thereof, they 
agreed to contribute annually about one thousand dol- 
lars. They no doubt considered that amount amply 
sufficient to sustain a school, after complete organiza- 
tion ; but they soon discovered that to begin such an 
undertaking, to purchase a lot, to build a house, and 
to supply the necessary furniture, would require addi- 
tional resources. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 245 

" To obtain such additional resources, the Lancaster 
Society, through their trustees, memorialized the cor- 
poration. Some response must have been given to- 
that memorial, but we have searched the municipal 
journal in vain to find it. The memorialists represented 
a large number of respectable and influential constit- 
uents of the corporate authorities, and it is not at all 
probable that their request was treated with indiffer- 
ence. Legislation, however, seems, by general con- 
sent, to have been suspended, and meanwhile ' a square 
of ground was conveyed by the Rev. Leonard Neale 
to certain persons (the Lancaster Society) for the pur- 
pose of carrying on a public system of education.' The 
Lancaster Society, under these circumstances, and will- 
ing to put off" as long as possible recourse to the pub- 
lic treasury, may perhaps have withdrawn their me- 
morial and confined their efforts to the erection of a 
school-house. 

" These efforts were successful, and in June, 1811, 
the mayor, recorder, aldermen, and common council- 
men, officially attended the procession of the Lancas- 
ter Society for the purpose of laying the corner-stone 
of the school-house. In five months the building was 
completed, and a school was begun November 1 8th, 
1811, under Mr. Robert Ould, and contained, before 
trie lapse of many weeks, three hundred and forty 
boys and girls under tuition. But the trustees disap- 
proved of this indiscriminate crowding of both sexes 
in one room, and to correct that irregularity, as well 
as to accommodate the throng daily seeking admis- 
sion, they renewed their application to the ' Worship- 

32 



246 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

ful Corporation.' The trustees congratulated the au- 
thorities on the success of ' a plan of education so 
plain, so unembarrassed, and so ready of execution,' 
which had been proved by the proficiency of the schol- 
ars, and the increasing reputation of the school; ex- 
pressed their serious objections to an intercourse of 
the sexes in an assemblage so large and so promiscu- 
ous ; and as the school-house could not accommodate 
all the applicants for tuition, they asked the aid of the 
legal guardians and representatives of the town to- 
wards carrying into effect a plan already ' digested,' 
which would enlarge the accommodations for the boys 
and extend the facilities of instruction to the girls. 

" Either from pride or diffidence, the trustees did 
not announce this digested plan, but endeavored to 
propitiate the good will of the city fathers by present- 
ing, as a subject of general regret and sorrowful re- 
flection, that females, the distinguished ornaments of 
creation, should experience that neglect of education, 
unhappily too prevalent towards them throughout the 
world. Following this eloquent appeal a petition was 
read, signed by ninety-live subscribers to the ' Lancas- 
ter School Fund,' all constituents, respectable, influen- 
tial, and legal voters. This petition frankly repre- 
sented that < an addition to the Lancaster School, for 
the accommodation of the female scholars, would be a 
public good, and prayed for an appropriation of money 
sufficient to build such an addition as would accom- 
modate two hundred female scholars.' 

" Neither of these papers bear any date, but the or- 
dinance of May 12th, 1812. is so perfectly responsive 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 247 

to both, that we need uot hesitate to assign to them a 
date prior to the date thereof. 

" That ordinance appropriated the sum of one thou- 
sand dollars, to be given to the trustees of the Lan- 
caster School, for the express purpose of enabling them 
to erect an addition to their present school-house to 
accommodate the females of said school, and pre- 
scribed the materials and dimensions of the additional 
building, which was to be so constructed as to accom- 
modate two hundred and fifty scholars, at the least. 
A proviso attached to the ordinance betrayed the fear 
of censorious animadversion. The one thousand dol- 
lars was to be paid in annual instalments of two hund- 
red dollars, so that public indignation might be soothed 
by the long credit, for the last instalment would not be 
payable until May, 1816. 

" But the result of this legislation relieved the cor- 
poration from all fears of censure, and the Lancaster 
School had, meanwhile, diffused its meliorative influ- 
ences so widely, that the councils felt authorized to 
manifest their good will in a more decided manner. 
Some months before the last instalment of two hund- 
red dollars was due, an ordinance, of October 6, 1815, 
provided that, instead of the trifling annuity thereto- 
fore allowed to the Lancaster School, there should 
thereafter be paid, yearly and every year, to the trust- 
ees thereof, the sum of one thousand dollars, for the 
purpose of assisting the said trustees in defraying the 
expenses of the school. The conditions annexed to 
the grant were, that the trustees should receive all des- 
titute children and cause them to be educated ; that 



248 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

all children, on completing their education, should be 
bound out according to the laws in force in the coun- 
try ; that an annual report of the condition of the 
school be made by the trustees, and that the schools 
should be subject to occasional visits of four persons 
out of the councils, for the purpose of inspecting the 
operation thereof, and to see that order and morality 
were maintained, as well in as out of the school. 

" For nine years the schools were carried on in har- 
mony and to the satisfaction of the community and of 
the corporate authorities. The annual reports must 
have been regularly made by the trustees, but, although 
the utmost freedom of search amongst the archives of 
Georgetown was allowed to me by their custodian, 
Mr. Surveyor Forsyth, with the assistance of Mr. J. J. 
Bogue, an intelligent and polite coadjutor, not one of 
them could be found. The Lancaster Society seems 
to have left everything relating to the schools to the 
discretion of the trustees, and those gentlemen did 
not, it seems, suppose that the monotonous routine of 
school-keeping could ever become a subject of inquiry. 
"We are, therefore, left to infer or to conjecture the 
proceedings of the school trustees from the records of 
municipal legislation. 

" During this period, the corporation was admon- 
ished of the danger of transgressing the line of secular 
policy in relation to schools. Application for aid in 
maintaining a free school was made by a religious so- 
ciety. An appropriation of two hundred dollars was 
granted ; and the lot on which the school-house stood 
was exempted from taxes. But these favors were soon 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 249 

afterwards "withheld. The feelings of the American 
people are deeply and sincerely religious, but their 
theological opinions are not concordant. Conscience 
and worship are both equally free, and the increase 
and prosperity of each church are dependent, exclu- 
sively, on private liberality and enterprise. 

" For thirty-two years the Lancasterian School had 
been sustained by private contribution and municipal 
aid. The list of subscribers to the Lancaster School 
Fund exhibited the names of few survivors, and those 
few could not, fairly, be expected to make good the 
deficiencies in the fund with their individual offerings. 
They had nobly volunteered to do a good work, and 
had done it well. They had broken up the fallow 
ground, ploughed the field, and sowed the seed, and 
the successive harvests had supplied an entire genera- 
tion with intellectual and moral nourishment. Their 
fellow-citizens appreciated their beneficent labors, and, 
prompted by public opinion, the municipality passed 
the ordinance of December 31, 1842. 

" This ordinance declared that the schools then in 
operation, and supported by appropriations of the pub- 
lic, money, be taken under the exclusive care of the 
corporate authority, and that guardians thereof be an- 
nually appointed, in joint meeting of the two boards, 
on the first Monday in January; 

" That the guardians of the Georgetown school 
should consist of seven members, two, at least, of 
whom shall be members of the corporation, and were 
thereby invested with full powers to keep and manage 
said schools in such manner as they should deem best; 



250 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

" And that, soon as the organization of the board 
of guardians shall have been reported to the mayor, 
the clerk of the corporation was authorized and di- 
rected to transfer and pay the amounts appropriated 
for education to said guardians. 

GEORGETOWN SCHOOL. 

" "Who constituted the first board of the George- 
town schools is not shown by the legislative record. 
The regular annual appropriation of one thousand dol- 
lars allowed by the ordinance of October 6, 1815, seems 
to have been enough to defray expenses ; for, up to 
November, 1847, only two appropriations, amounting 
to three hundred and fifty dollars, were required. 
The guardians kept no journal of their meetings, neither 
was there found on file any copy of their periodical re- 
ports or other document. 

" In 1848, however, that omission was supplied ; 
and until the consolidation of 1874, there is a contin- 
uous narrative of twenty-six } T ears. The board of 
guardians for 1848 met on the 5th of January, and 
were duly organized. The removal of the schools to 
other rooms was the only remarkable event in their 
administration until September, when they were served 
with a copy of a joint resolution, directing the guard- 
ians to charge and receive pay for all scholars whose 
parents or guardians are, in the opinion of a majority 
of the board, able to pay not exceeding one dollar a 
month for the general use of the schools. Whereupon, 
the board ordered, That the principals of the school 
furnish lists of their respective scholars from which the 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 251 

board may ascertain whose parents may be able to pay 
for the tuition of their children. These directions 
were not agreeable to the board ; for no further men- 
tion of nor allusion to the subject appears on the min- 
utes. Inquisitorial duties were imposed on them which 
no American gentleman could possibly perform ; and 
the councils, by their silence, seemed to attribute the 
adoption of the joint resolution to inadvertence. 

" From 1848 to 1853 was an era of good feeling for 
the teachers, for their salaries were twice raised ; but 
the unfair discrimination shown against the ' ornaments 
of creation ' in the gradation of salaries recalls the 
'sorrowful reflection' suggested by Mr. Robert Bev- 
erley. The principal teacher of the male school was 
allowed live hundred and fifty dollars, while the prin- 
cipal teacher of the female school was allowed only 
one-half that amount, two hundred and seventy-five 
dollars, which was, moreover, fifty dollars less than 
the salary of the assistant teacher of the male school. 

" The corporation having been informed, in 1849, 
by the board, that the interests of the schools required 
more ample accommodations than those afforded by 
the hall of the Vigilant Fire Company, passed the 
ordinance of August 11th, 1849, appropriating twelve 
hundred dollars for the purchase of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church on Montgomery Street, and an ad- 
ditional amount, not exceeding eight hundred dollars, 
for adapting the same to the comfortable accommoda- 
tion of the schools. The purchase and alterations 
must have been promptly made. The clay, however, 
when it was first occupied by the schools is not men- 



252 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

tionecl, but the minutes of November 9, 1850, are 
elated ' at the new school house.' In the ordinance 
purchasing this building, there was a provision that 
the trustees were to pay interest, annually, on the two 
thousand dollars to the corporation ; but this condi- 
tion does not appear to have been insisted on, and was 
formally repealed in 1852. 

" In 1851 the councils appropriated, at the request 
of the board, seventy-five dollars for the purchase of 
premiums at the annual exhibition, but in 1852 they 
did not feel able to afford such an expenditure ; and, 
but for the generosity of Mr. W. W. Corcoran, whose 
father, forty-three years before, made the first appeal 
to the corporate authorities on behalf of the public 
schools, the children would have been sorely disap- 
pointed. Mr. Corcoran sent one hundred dollars to 
the board for the purchase of premiums, and annually 
repeated his donation as long as it was needed. 

"In September, 1853, the board ordered that Mr. 
Craig, the principal teacher of the male school, be al- 
lowed five dollars to purchase instruments for pulling 
teeth. The extraction of teeth was not a punishment, 
but the toothache was such a common excuse for ne- 
glect of lessons and for non-atten dance at school, that 
Mr. Craig came to the conclusion that the removal of 
the offending member was the best way of maintain- 
ing discipline. ' And it was astonishing,' said the 
trustee who explained this entry, ' it was astonishing 
to see the business he did ! Odontalgia became so 
contagious or fashionable that Mr. Craig soon filled a 
quart-cup, more or less, with trophies of his dentistry.' 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 253 

" The councils having been asked for one thousand 
dollars, responded by appropriating two thousand five 
hundred dollars for school expenses in 1855, and the 
board, having received it, set apart thereof enough to 
pay incidental expenses, and divided the rest pro rata 
amongst the teachers. In May, 1856, there was some 
correspondence between the board and the corpora- 
tion, in the course of which it appeared that the board 
of trustees had never kept any account-book, and 
were, therefore, unable to submit to the council a state- 
ment of receipts and expenditures. They had de- 
pended entirely on the books kept by the clerk of the 
corporation, but * they expected to present, if neces- 
sary,' at the end of the year, a full and accurate ex- 
hibit of the condition of the school fund. In regard 
to the personnel of the school, they reported one hund- 
red and fifty males enrolled, with an average attend- 
ance of one hundred and twelve ; and eighty females 
enrolled, with an average attendance of sixty. The 
report at the end of the year stated the number of 
males enrolled at one hundred and fifty-eight, with an 
average attendance of one hundred and nineteen ; and 
that during the year fifty had been admitted and fifty- 
two withdrawn. Of the females seventy-one were en- 
rolled, with an average attendance of fifty-six ; and 
that during the year sixty-one had been admitted and 
fifty-three withdrawn. 

" This irregular attendance was to be, no doubt, 

attributed in part to the crowded benches. The two 

school rooms had each been partitioned into two, and 

although the change at first conduced to order and 
33 



254 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

good discipline, the wish of the board to admit as 
many as possibly could be seated, neutralized these ad- 
vantages. These inconveniences became so embar- 
rassing, that in March, 1857, the board communicated 
to the councils their desire to establish an additional 
school at an estimated expense of nine hundred and 
thirty-five dollars. But the proximate municipal elec- 
tion and the hope of aid from Congress induced the 
corporation to postpone legislation on the subject. 
Meanwhile, the board sought to obtain from the voters 
at the polls voluntary donations in behalf of the pub- 
lic schools. The attempt failed ; but the board soon 
presented an argument that convinced everybody of 
the necessity of enlarging the scope of their adminis- 
tration. 

" At the meeting in January, 1856, it was determ- 
ined to canvass the city, so as to ascertain what pro- 
portion of the children, between five and eighteen 
years of age, attended school. In April the canvasser 
reported the whole number of such children at two 
thousand two hundred and seventy-eight ; six hundred 
and seventy-nine of whom were in private schools, 
and four hundred and sixty-one were in public, free, 
and parish schools ; total, one thousand one hundred 
and forty ; leaving one thousand one hundred and 
thirty-eight, almost exactly half, of the juvenile popu- 
lation entirely without means of learning. The pub- 
lication of this census dispersed all objections. In 
one week afterwards, the board were informed that 
the remainder of the school fund was made subject to 
their order, for the purpose of building a new school- 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 255 

house, and a committee was at once instructed to se- 
lect a site. This was not done, however, until June, 

1859, when the purchase of the lot on the corner of 
High and Market Streets was consummated. The 
plan of the new building was agreed on in April, 

1860, and the contract was awarded in the following 
May, but it was not occupied before September, 1863, 
for this was a time of great political distress and per- 
plexity. The building cost about three thousand dol- 
lars; and the expenditure for lot, furniture, salaries, 
and other indispensable outlay, must have made up a 
total not less than five thousand dollars. 

" The year 1864 lifted up on high the ' ornaments 
of creation ;" for every teacher elected was a ' female.' 
Even the senior and junior male classes were put under 
their control. But the board seemed still to be influ- 
enced by the traditionary undervaluation of woman's 
services, and reduced the salary of the teacher of the 
senior male school to seven hundred and fifty dollars 
— fifty dollars less than allowed to the male teacher 
ever since 1856. The scale adopted was, however, an 
evidence of progress, generally, and was fixed at a 
more equitable standard than theretofore. 

" Music was very cautiously introduced into the 
schools. On the 7th of October, 1857, it was ordered 
by the board that < the children, or such of them as 
would agree, may be taught music at their own ex- 
pense.' In the following December, Mr. Magee stated 
that ' a large number of the scholars had placed them- 
selves under Mr. Hunter, who was teaching them 
music scientiffically, and that their progress was a 



256 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

source of congratulation." In August, 1860, ' permis- 
sion was given for the introduction of singing into the 
schools, provided such arrangements be made without 
expense to the board.' In April, 1863, Mr. Magee 
was instructed ' to converse with Mr. Daniel, music 
teacher, on the subject of giving instruction to the 
town schools.' In 1864, a music master was included 
in the academic staff, at a salaiw of one hundred and 
fifty dollars. 

" From 1865 to 1870, the administration of the 
board received many tokens of public approbation. 
The ladies held a fair for the benefit of the schools, in 
April, 1866 ; and Mr. Magee handed to the guardians 
the net proceeds thereof (four hundred dollars), with 
a recommendation that it be devoted to the establish- 
ment of a library for the schools. The board approved 
the recommendation ; but when they took under con- 
sideration the room to be provided for the books, the 
librarian to be appointed and paid to distribute and to 
take care of them, and the binder's bill for occasional 
repairs, the project was given up, and, with the con- 
sent of the ladies, the money was spent for a piano 
for use in the higher schools. Major George Hill, Jr., 
also presented to the six schools as many beautiful silk 
flags, and Captain Thomas Brown gave nine neatly 
bound volumes suitable for premiums. All these 
donors were tendered the thanks of the board. 

" New schools were the chief topic at the meetings 
of the guardians, and the aid of the corporation was 
again invoked ; and a lot, on Prospect Street, about 
to be sold at that time, was withdrawn from market 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 257 

arid transferred to the board. Meanwhile, room was 
made for thirty scholars more in each of the schools 
in the High Street building, and the necessary assis- 
tant teachers were added to the preceptoral force. In 
1868, the corporation appropriated fourteen hundred 
dollars for the schools, and ordered that city stock be 
issued to the amount of twenty thousand dollars, the 
proceeds of which were to be placed to the credit of 
the school fund. Proposals for a building were at once 
invited, and of seven, the lowest was for nine thou- 
sand seven hundred and thirty-seven dollars, and a 
contract was accordingly executed. 

"In 1868, 1869, and 1870, Congress was memorial- 
ized for help, but neither money nor land was availa- 
ble for the District schools, although millions of acres 
were allotted for maintaining schools in the States and 
Territories of the Union. In 1869, the teachers' sala- 
ries were advanced twenty-five per cent., and the 
schools were graded as grammar, intermediate, sec- 
ondary, and primary. About forty children having 
been reported as awaiting admission on granted per- 
mits, two half schools, of thirty scholars each, were or- 
ganized in the High Street building, and the requisite 
assistant teachers elected. 

" During this period a law had been passed, levying 
a tax of twenty-five cents on each one hundred dollars 
of assessed property for the public schools, which 
yielded about twelve thousand dollars a year. Out of 
the proceeds the corporation was to be reimbursed for 
the stock issued in 1868. 

"In 1871, the board began their administration full 



258 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

of energy and hope. Four hundred dollars were ap- 
propriated for medals and premiums at the June ex- 
amination. But their proceedings were interrupted 
by Congress, which, by an act passed February 2 1 , 
1871, put the District under a territorial form of gov- 
ernment. 

" On the 16th of the ensuing June, the following 
gentlemen were appointed by Henry D. Cooke, Gov- 
ernor of the District, a board of trustees of the public 
schools of Georgetown, viz : Anthony Hyde, G. W. 
Beall, C. D. Welch, W. L. Dunlop, W. W. Curtis, C. 
S. Ramsburg, and F. W. Moffat. The first regular 
meeting of the board was held October 3, and organ- 
ized by the election of Anthony Hyde, president, and 
W. W. Curtis, secretary. 

" At the meeting, January 5, 1872, the salaries were 
thus graded : teachers of the male and female gram- 
mar schools each, one thousand dollars; teachers of 
intermediate, eight hundred dollars; of secondaries, 
seven hundred dollars : of primaries, six hundred and 
fifty dollars ; music teacher, two hundred dollars. 
Thus were the ' ornaments of creation,' at last, ranked 
according to the uses they performed; for which just 
act the names of these gentlemen ought ever to be held 
in grateful remembrance. 

" Under the new form of government, all public ex- 
penditures had to be estimated and submitted to the 
legislature through the comptroller. In response to a 
communication from that officer calling attention to this 
law, the board reported, as necessary for the current ex- 
penses of the year, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 259 

" But a project was under consideration in the board 
which involved the expenditure of a much larger 
amount, and which, if successfully consummated, would 
secure the permanent prosperity of the public schools 
of Georgetown. Some desirable lots were for sale, 
suitable for a commodious and elegant school build- 
ing worthy of the city and of the cause ; but the 
ground and the house would cost not less than seventy- 
five thousand dollars. The ways and means of raising 
this amount were the subject of frequent consultations. 
To these consultations Governor Cooke and superin- 
tendent Wilson were invited, and contributed essen- 
tially to a favorable conclusion. The District govern- 
ment could not give any aid, as the expenditures by 
the board of public works had emptied the public 
treasury; and so utterly were the Territorial finances 
deranged, that the salaries of the teachers in the pub- 
lic schools of Washington, Georgetown, and the county 
had not, for some months, been paid. In this strait, 
Mr. W. W. Corcoran volunteered the loan of a sum 
sufficient to pay the salaries for two months. The 
offer was gratefully accepted, and Mr. Corcoran ad- 
vanced twenty-five thousand five hundred and ninety 
dollars, without interest. 

" The consultations, meanwhile, were continued, and 
resulted, finally, in a proposed coalescence of interest 
between the ' Peabody Library Fund,' the ' Linthicum 
Institute,' and the public schools of Georgetown. 
George Peabody had donated fifteen thousand dollars 
to certain trustees, for founding a public library in 
Georgetown, and Edward Linthicum had bequeathed 



260 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

fifty thousand dollars for establishing schools for free 
instruction to the children of that city. The negotia- 
tions preliminary to this union were not encouraging, 
but an arrangement satisfactory to all parties was 
finally agreed to, and the monument of that satisfac- 
tory arrangement is the Curtis school-house. In that 
spacious and elegant building, named in honor of Mr. 
W. W. Curtis, president of the existing board, are 
ample accommodations for the Peabocly Library, which 
now consists of about fifteen hundred volumes, with 
space for five thousand more. There are also, for the 
use of the Linthicum Institute, rooms for scholastic 
exercises and for public teachers. The rest of the edi- 
fice is occupied by eight public schools. Mr. Adolph 
Cluss was the architect, 

"In 1873 a new primary school, the sixth, was es- 
tablished, and the board estimated the expenditures 
for the year ending June 30, 1875, at eighteen thou- 
sand dollars ; but their proceedings were again inter- 
rupted by a remodilication of the local government. 
By act of June 20, 1874, the Territory was transmuted 
into a province, and the administration thereof was 
invested in a triumvirate commission. The Commis- 
sioners consolidated the school boards of Washington, 
Georgetown, and of the county into one board of nine- 
teen trustees, eleven of whom were to be residents of 
Washington, three of Georgetown, and five of the 
county. This board has jurisdiction over all the pub- 
lic schools of the District, without discrimination of 
color. Every change of official management, howso- 
ever advantageous, is disagreeable to persons accus- 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 261 

tomed to the old routine; and this change was, no 
doubt, inconvenient to some. But experience has rec- 
onciled all. Instead of many different organizations 
for a similar purpose, the entire District contributes 
all its resources, and concentrates all its energies to a 
single end, and all harmoniously co-operate in meas- 
ures productive of more general good. 

" The following statement exhibits the condition of 
the schools in Georgetown : 

Number of scholars 1,439 

Number of teachers : male, 1 ; female, 

21 22 

Salaries of teachers $ 17,200 00 

Expenditures, including payment of pre- 
vious debts 89,107 15 

Eeceipts 33,037 30 

Value of school property 137,350 00 

Average cost, each scholar 22 80 

" The history of the schools in Georgetown embraces 
sixty-six years, during which period we have seen, 
despite all vicissitudes, annual improvement. The 
trustees never neglected their duties. Out of nearly 
four hundred meetings, there were not twenty non- 
quorums. ISTo one seemed to consider his appointment 
as a sinecure, but discharged his high duties with 
fidelity and industry. The places of many of these 
faithful servants have been vacated by death or other 
casualty, but as examples of official punctuality and 
energy we recall the names of Brown, Shoemaker, 
Jewell, Tenney, Bangs, Osborn, Magee, Addison, 

34 



262 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

Hyde, Ould, Adler, Marbury, Beall, King, Magruder, 
Dunlop, Ramsburg, Curtis, and Moffat. 

" The guardians never ' despised the day of small 
things.' They were just as solicitous for the welfare 
of the humble Lancasterian School as they could have 
been for that of a renowned university. They took a 
heart interest in the scholars, and, in their treatment 
of them, seemed to bear in mind that they were soon 
to become their fellow-citizens. Allusions to their 
gratuitous tuition were never obtrusively made, and 
nowhere on their minutes or on any document can be 
found the word ' pauper.' ' Charity scholars ' was used 
in an ordinance of 1812, but the epithet was never 
repeated. It was ordained, indeed by the corporation, 
that the scholars, after completing their education, 
were to be ' bound out,' according to the laws of the 
country, and that parents able to pay for their chil- 
dren's tuition should be required to do so ; but neither 
provision was ever insisted on. Indeed, the ' free ' 
schools of Georgetown were, from the beginning, ani- 
mated with a patriotic and independent spirit. 

" The Corporation of Georgetown was always friendly 
to the schools, and assured their success by its enlight- 
ened policy. It was, indeed, cautious at times, as it 
behooved delegated authority to be, but the solicited 
aid was never refused. 

" Georgetown has now seventeen public schools, 
containing about fifteen hundred scholars ; but a large 
proportion of her juvenile population is unprovided 
with schools, and it is impossible for that city to sup- 
ply them. The necessity of education and the inade- 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 263 

quacy of her resources to impart it have been repeat- 
edly made known to Congress, but no relief has been 
granted. Lands worth more than a hundred millions 
of dollars have been given to the States for universi- 
ties and schools; and even to the Territories more than 
thirty million acres have been granted for like uses, 
but not a section nor a rood to the District of Col- 
umbia ! " 




CHAPTER Yin. 

Oak Hill Cemetery, and Generosity of W. W. Corcoran 
— Holyrood Cemetery — Presbyterian Burying-Ground — 
Methodist Burying-Ground. 

Oak Hill Cemetery, located on the heights of town 
and bordering on Rock Creek was, previous to it oc- 
cupancy as a cemetery, known to our old residents as 
"Parrott's Woods;" and the hills, covered with lofty 
oaks, extended their shady bowers in every direction. 
It was the play ground of the school-boy, and the resort 
of the weary citizen from the cares and turmoils of 
city life. Many of our citizens who, when bo} 7 s, have 
romped and played under the wide spreading oaks, 
gathering acorns in playful mirth, or hunted over the 
ground with dog and gun, little thought that it would 
be their final resting place under that Divine injunc- 
tion — " dust thou art, and unto dust thou shaft return." 
This grove was dedicated by common consent to the 
celebration of the 4th of July, where the Sunday school 
children of our town were wont to assemble and cele- 
brate the birthday of American liberty in prose and 
song; but their voice of music is no longer heard, and 
wafted by the western breeze to the shores of the At- 
lantic ; neither do we hear the bursts of eloquence 
which flowed from the lips of the impassioned orator 
when mind infused itself into mind, but in their stead, 
silence reigns supreme. Some of the towering oaks 



OAK HILL CEMETERY. 265 

have been leveled with the ground, and the willow 
and the cypress will supply their place, and the out- 
spreading branches and sombre foliage of the funeral 
yew will be planted there. 

This cemetery owes its origin to Col. William W. 
Corcoran, a native and former resident of George- 
town, who conceived the idea of laying out a burial- 
£ place for the public good; and, consequently, he pur- 
f 1/V chased fifteen acres of land of Lewis Washington, of 
Q Jefferson County, Virginia ; and when the charter of 
the Oak Hill Cemetery Company was passed by Con- 
gress on the M day of March, 1849, he generously 
conveyed this land to the company for the purpose of 
a cemetery. More land has since been added, until 
the number of acres have increased to thirty-six ; and 
the whole is divided into lots of such sizes as to suit 
the means of every family. The number of lots sold 
up to the present time exceeds twelve thousand, and 
the number of interments four thousand. 

The generous donor who originated the cemetery, 
has continued his beneficent donations from time to 
time, in laying out and embellishing the grounds at 
his own expense. There has always appeared to be a 
•silent effort made to bury in oblivion what ever was 
done by Col. Corcoran towards the cemetery, until a 
committee was appointed by the lot-holders, February, 
1869. When they became aware of the fact, that the 
records of the company afforded no account of the ori- 
gin of the cemetery, at the time of its institution, now 
twenty-eight years ago, it was known to all that the 
originator of the cemetery was Col. Corcoran, and that 



266 OAK HILL CEMETERY. 

to his taste and munificence, the company are indebted 
for this beautiful burial place. The general knowl- 
edge and recognition of the fact was probably the rea- 
son why it was not made a matter of special record 
on the journal of the company ; but this omission, has, 
no doubt, been remedied, and the history of the ori- 
gin of the cemetery has been engrossed on the books 
of the company. 

From the record of the investigation by the com- 
mittee appointed to examine into the atfairs of the 
cemetery company, it has been ascertained that the 
following donations have been made by Col. Corcoran : 

Expenditures in purchase of land June 

7th, 1848 . $ 3,000 00 

Expenditures for dwelling house and 

chapel, from 1850 to 1853 9,400 10 

Expenditures for iron railing, from 

1852 to 1853 3,582 54 

Expenditures for improving grounds... 24,176 28 

Ditto for various other purposes 79,841 08 

Making a total of ..'. $120,000 00 

The committee expressed their surprise that no rec- 
ord whatever is to be found of these original donations, 
either on the journal or account-books, and would beg 
to recommend that suitable entries be made of all 
these matters before anything else is done. If this has 
not been done, the chronicler will record them in his 
book, to be read as long as his book will last. 

If we take a stroll through the cemetery, we find 
that neatness and order reigns supreme. The lots are 



OAK HILL CEMETERY. 267 

laid out with mathematical skill, the most of them 
containing three hundred square feet of ground ; 
others, again, have a larger number of square feet, and 
are suitable for the erection of a vault or mausoleum. 
We see here the granite monument erected to E. M. 
Stanton, the great War Secretary of President Lin- 
coln, who died on 24 December, 1869 ; also the monu- 
ment to General Jesse Lee Reno, who fell at the bat- 
tle of South Mountain, on the 14 September, 1862 ; 
also a spacious tomb to Samuel Hooper, a Representa- 
tive from Massachusetts, who died February 14, 1875 ; 
and a monument to Bodisco, the Russian Minister, 
who died January 28th, 1854 ; also to Charles B. Fisk, 
the chief engineer of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, 
who completed it to Cumberland. A lofty monument 
is erected to Fowler, who died at sea in 1850.' Intes- 
tate and unmarried, his heirs in the District of Col- 
umbia inherited his fortune, and erected this monu- 
ment to his memory. There are two mausoleums in 
the cemetery ; one erected by Col. Corcoran ; the other 
is the "Van I^ess mausoleum, transferred from H Street, 
Washington City, and said to be a copy of the temple 
of Yesta. This tomb is constructed of stone, and is an 
open dome with pillars, and a deep vault beneath ; 
and is said to have cost thirty-four thousand dollars. 
Just in the rear of the chapel is a monument erected 
to the memory of Major George Peter, who died June 
22d, 1861. He commanded the Artillery Company 
from Georgetown at the battle of Bladensburg, on 24 
August, 1814. John Kurtz was 1st lieutenant, the 
late Judge Morsell was 2d lieutenant, James A. Ma- 



268 HOLYROOD CEMETERY. 

gruder was 3d lieutenant. Major Peter, after the war, 
represented his district in Congress for several years. 

HOLYROOD CEMETERY. 

This cemetery is situated at the junction of High, 
Fayette, and Madison Streets, and embraces several 
acres of ground. It is situated on a high elevation, 
from which a full view of Washington and George- 
town, and all parts of the District, can be obtained. 
It is a lovely place for a city of the dead ; and when 
laid out into lots and graveled walks, with a planta- 
tion of trees, will compare with anj 7 cemetery in the 
District in beauty and location. To improve a ceme- 
tery requires considerable labor and money, which 
might be raised by the ladies of the congregation do- 
ing as the ladies of the Presbyterian congregation did 
when their cemetery was in a state of dilapidation — 
going to the lot holders and collecting five dollars 
from one, and ten from another; and those who were 
not able to pay, to give a few clays' labor in the ceme- 
tery. In this way Holyroocl would soon improve in 
appearance, and become a resort for strangers as well 
as the citizens of the town. Certainly, those who are 
lot holders ought to take a pride in beautifying the 
grounds. One could plant flowers, another trees, 
others could gravel the walks. 

PRESBYTERIAN BURYING-GROUND. 

This cemetery lies between Fourth and Fifth and 
Market and Frederick Streets, in Georgetown, in 

square number -, on the new map, and is probably 

the oldest burying-grouud in the town. 



PRESBYTERIAN BURYING-GROUND. 269 

The following communication was published in our 
town paper some forty years past : 

" Mr. Editor : Once in a year, for many years past, 
have I made a pilgrimage to the grave-yard (belong- 
ing, I believe, to the congregation of the Presbyterian 
Church, in the northwestern part of Georgetown,) to 
drop a silent tear upon the tombs of departed chil- 
dren and friends ; but language cannot describe my 
feelings on visiting the mansions of the dead a few 
days since. It would have been difficult to believe 
that the grounds belonged to a Christian community 
had I not known that they did. The broken fences, 
open gates, and grazing cattle upon the very grass that 
flourished over the bosoms of departed worth ; the marks 
of sacriligious destruction upon the monumental pile 
by idle, rude, and vulgar hands, sickened my very 
soul, and almost determined me not to be buried in 
a place appropriated for the dead, or even to allow a 
turf to mark the spot where my remains may rest. 

A NON-RESIDENT." 

When the above communication made its appear- 
ance, a number of ladies of the Presbyterian congre- 
gation called a meeting of the lot holders, and determ- 
ined to have the grounds placed in a suitable condi- 
tion ; for that purpose they made collections among 
the lot holders, and had a new fence erected, the briers 
and bushes cut down, the lots sodded, and the walks 
graveled ; so that it has from that day to the present 
a genteel appearance, to attract the eye of a stranger or 
non-resident. This was the principal burying ground 
until the laying out of Oak Hill Cemetery in 1850. 

35 



270 METHODIST BURYING-GROUND. 

In looking over the tombstones, the chronicler dis- 
covers that Robert Peter, the first major of George- 
town, died November 15, 1806, aged eighty years; 
John Barnes, who was collector of the port of George- 
town for twenty years, and founder of the poor-house, 
died February 11, 1826, aged ninety-six years ; James 
Gillespie, Member of Congress from North Carolina, 
died January 11, 1805 ; Mary Bohrer, wife of John 
P. Bohrer, died August 8, 1844, in the ninety-seventh 
year of her age ; Elizabeth Thompson died March 9, 
1847, aged eighty-seven years ; William Waters, a sol- 
dier of the Revolution, died August 19, 1859, in the 
ninety-third year of his age ; Col. George Beall, born 
in Georgetown, February 26, 1729, died October 15, 
1807, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. The town 
must have been a village at the time of Col. BealPs 
birth. 

METHODIST BURYING-GROUND. 

This burying-groond lies upon the banks of Rock 
Creek and the road leading to Lyons' Mill. This 
ground was conveyed by Thomas Beall to Ebenezer 
Eliason and others, by deed dated October 13, 1808, 
recorded March 6, 1809, in liber V,page 295. It was 
divided into lots, and many of them have been sold 
to various citizens of the town and used for the burial 
of the dead. There is a disposition to sell this ground 
and apply the proceeds to other purposes, but this can- 
not be done. The best way is to turn it over to 
Mount Zion Church, on condition that they keep up 
the fence and put the grounds in order. 



CHAPTER IX. 

History of Potomac Lodge, No. 5, F. A. A. M. — Sketch of 
the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal — The Outlet Lock — Act 
of Congress Providing a Form of Government for the 
District of. Columbia. 

" The committee to whom was referred the duty of 
collecting the books, records, and relics of Potomac 
Lodge, jSTo. 5, and of making a report on the same, 
respectfully submit the following report, in which they 
have briefly sketched the history of the lodge, and of 
Masonry in Georgetown, as connected with the books, 
records, and relics collected by them. 

" In order of date, the first relic that we find be- 
longing to the lodge is an old bible, published in 
Edinburgh in 1754, with this inscription on the fly 
leaf: 'A present from Mr. Colin Campbell to St. An- 
drew's Lodge, the 30th January, 1773, Bladensburg.' 
This bible has been in the possession of our lodge 
from its first organization, under its present name, in 
1806. It may have belonged to a Lodge once in ex- 
istence at Bladensburg, which was at that time a place 
of more importance than at present, but, according to 
our oldest living member, as received by him through 
tradition, it belonged to the first lodge of Masons that 
ever was in Georgetown, and was presented to it by a 
resident of Bladensburg. 

" We know that lodges of Masons were formed in 
this country when colonies of Great Britain, under 



272 POTOMAC LODGE, P. A. A. M. 

charters granted both from the Grand Lodge of Eng- 
land and the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and, their 
work being somewhat different, they held no Masonic 
intercourse with each other until after the revolution- 
ary war, when they came together and formed Grand 
Lodges. It is probable, from the name, that this was 
one of the lodges of Scotch Masons, and we know 
that the first lodges here, and this lodge when reor- 
ganized in 1806, were mostly composed of Scotchmen. 

" Our oldest member, Bro. James King, who was 
initiated in 1810, says that at the time, and for some 
years afterwards, this was the only bible used in the 
lodge. 

" Of this ancient lodge we know nothing except 
by tradition ; but we find that at a meeting of the 
Grand Lodge of the State of Maryland, on the 2lst of 
April, 1789, a petition was presented from a number 
of respectable brethren from Georgetown on Poto- 
mac River, praying for a warrant from the Grand 
Lodge to authorize them to convene as a regular 
lodge, which petition was granted; and Brothers 
Fierer and Grier being present, were, agreeably to the 
request of the petitioners, installed as Master and Sen- 
ior Warden, and, at the same time, received their war- 
rant, authorizing them to hold their lodge at George- 
town, on the river Potomac, in Maryland, distin- 
guished by the No. 9. 

" Of this lodge we possess no record or relic but 
the gavel used by Gen. George Washington, then 
President of the United States, at the laying of the 
corner-stone of the Capitol, September 18th, 1793, and 



POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 273 

by him then, according to tradition, handed to the 
Master of the lodge. The following account of the 
ceremony of laying the corner-stone of the Capitol 
was published in a newspaper in Georgetown, on Sep- 
tember 21st, 1793; and as it is very rare and inter- 
esting, and shows the connection of this lodge with 
the Masonic ceremonies, we give it in full : 

" ' Georgetown, September 21, 1793. 

" ' On "Wednesday one of the grandest Masonic pro- 
cessions took place for the purpose of laying the cor- 
ner-stone of the Capitol of the United States, which, 
perhaps, ever was exhibited on the like important oc- 
casion. About ten o'clock, Lodge No. 9 was visited 
by that congregation so graceful to the craft, Lodge 
No. 22, of Virginia, with all their officers and regalia ; 
and directly afterwards appeared, on the southern 
banks of the great river Potowmack, one of the finest 
companies of Volunteer Artillery that hath been lately 
seen, parading to receive the President of the United 
States, who shortly came in sight with his . suite, to 
whom the Artillery paid their military honors ; and his 
Excellency and suite crossed the Potowmack, and was 
received in Maryland by the officers and brethren of 
No. 22, Virginia, and No. 9, Maryland, whom the Presi- 
dent headed, and preceded by a band of music ; the 
rear brought up by the Alexandria Volunteer Artil- 
lery, with grand solemnity of march, proceeded to the 
President's square, in the city of Washington, where 
they were met and saluted by No. 15, of the city of 
Washington, in all their elegant badges and clothing, 



274 POTOMAC LODGE, E. A. A. M. 

headed by Brother Joseph Clark, lit. W. G. M., P. T., 
and conducted to a large lodge prepared for the pur- 
pose of their reception. After a short space of time, 
by the vigilance of Brother Clotworthy Stephenson, 
Grand Marshal P. T.,the brotherhood and other bodies 
were disposed in a second order of procession, which 
took place amidst a brilliant crowd of spectators of 
both sexes, according to the following arrangement, 
viz : 

" ' The surveying department of the city of "Wash- 
ington ; Mayor and Corporation of Georgetown; Vir- 
ginia Artillery ; commissioners of the city of Wash- 
ington, and their attendants ; stone-cutters ; mechan- 
ics. (Here follow all the various officers of Free- 
masonry, amongst whom appears Grand Master P. T., 
George Washington; Worshipful Master of No. 22, 
Virginia.) 

" ' The procession marched two abreast in the great- 
est solemn dignity, with music playing, drums beating, 
colors flying, and spectators rejoicing, from the Presi- 
dent's square to the Capitol, in the city of Washington, 
where the Grand Marshal ordered a halt, and directed 
each file in the procession to incline two steps, one to 
the right and one to the left, and faced each other, 
which formed an hollow oblong square, through which 
the Grand Sword Bearer led the van, followed by the 
Grand Master P. T. on the left, the President of the 
United States in the center, and the Worshipful Mas- 
ter of No. 22, Virginia, on the right; all the other 
orders that composed the procession advanced in the 
reverse of their order of march from the President's 



POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 275 

square to the southeast corner of the Capitol, and the 
artillery filed off to a destined ground to display their 
manoeuvres and discharge their cannon ; the President 
of the United States, the Grand Master P. T., and 
Worshipful Master of No. 22, taking their stand to the 
east of a huge stone, and all the craft forming a circle 
westward, stood a short time in awful order. 

" * The artillery discharged a volley. 

" ' The Grand Marshal delivered the commissioners 
a large silver plate with an inscription thereon, which 
the commissioners ordered to be read, and was as fol- 
lows : 

" ' This southeast corner-stone of the Capitol of the 
United States of America, in the city of Washington, 
was laid on the 18th day of September, 1793, in the 
thirteenth year of American Independence, in the 
first year of the second term of the Presidency of 
George Washington (whose virtues in the civil admin- 
istration of his country have been so conspicuous and 
beneficial, as his military valor and prudence have 
been useful in establishing her liberties), and in the 
year of Masonry 1793, by the President of the United 
States, in concert with the Grand Lodge of Maryland, 
several lodges under its jurisdiction, and Lodge No. 
22, from Alexandria, Virginia. 

THOMAS JOHNSON,^! 

DAVID STUART > Commissioners. 

DANIEL CARROLL, J 

JOSEPH CLARK, B. W. G. M. P. T. 

JAMES HOBAN, \ . ... , 

STEPHEN HALLATE, / Archltects - 

COLLIN WILLIAMSON, M. Mason. 

" ' The artillery discharged a volley. 



276 POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 

" ' The plate was then delivered to the President, 
who, attended by the Grand Master P. T. and three 
Most Worshipful Masters, descended to the cavazion 
trench and deposed the plate, and laid it on the corner- 
stone of the Capitol of the United States of America, 
on which was deposited corn, wine, and oil, when the 
whole congregation joined in reverential prayer, which 
was succeeded by Masonic chaunting honors and a vol- 
ley from the artillery. 

" ' The President of the United States and his at- 
tendant brethren ascended from the cavazion to the 
east of the corner-stone, and there the Grand Master 
P. T., elevated on a triple rostrum, delivered an ora- 
tion fitting the occasion, which was received with 
brotherly love and commendation. At intervals, dur- 
ing the delivery of the oration, several volleys were 
discharged by the artillery. The ceremony ended in 
prayer, Masonic chaunting honors, and a fifteen volley 
from the artillery. 

" ' The whole company retired to an extensive booth, 
where an ox of five hundred pounds weight was bar- 
becued, of which the company generally partook, with 
every abundance of other recreation. The festival 
concluded with fifteen successive volleys from the ar- 
tillery, whose military discipline and manoeuvres merit 
every commendation 

" ' Before dark the whole company departed, with 
joyful hopes of the production of the labor.' 

" Two members of this lodge (jSTo. 9), Gen. James 
Thompson and John Mountz, for over fifty years clerk 



POTOMAC LODGE, P. A. A. M. 277 

of the corporation of this town, died only ten years ago, 
in 1855. Both visited our lodge in 1854, and testified 
that the gavel in our possession,to the best of their kno wl- 
ledge and belief, was the same used by General Wash- 
ington at the laying of the corner-stone of the Capitol. 
" In 1854, Bro. John Mountz, in response to a com- 
munication from this lodge, addressed us the following 
letter : 

" ' I was secretary of Lodge No. 9, now Potomac 
Lodge, No. 5, in the year 1793, and am now in the 
eighty-third year of my age and have never had occa- 
sion to regret my connection with our ancient and 
honorable order. I was present and near our late 
brother, George Washington, first President of the 
United States, when he laid the first corner-stone of 
the Capitol of the United States, on the 18th of Sep- 
tember, 1793, which he did Masonically with a marble 
gavel, which, I believe, is the one now in possession of 
your lodge. 

" < I am, brethren, sincerely, your brother, 

JOHN MOUNTZ. 

" 'To James Goszler, W. M., Walter H. S. Taylor, S. W., John 
S. Moore, J. W., of the brethren of Lodge No. 5, George- 
town, D. C. 
" ' Georgetown, D. C, June 13, 1854.' 

" According to Bro. James King, this gavel was the 

one used by the Master of the lodge at the time he 

was initiated, in 1810, and for some years afterwards, 

up to 1818. A committee, of which he was chairman, 

made a report September 28th, 1846, concerning the 

Washington gavel, from which we will give an extract: 
36 



278 POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 

" ' This gavel was manufactured for M. W. Bro. 
General George Washington, for the express purpose 
of laying the corner-stone of the Capitol of the United 
States, in Washington City, in the year 1793, and used 
by him on that occasion, and then deposited in Lodge 
No. 9, of Maryland.' 

" According to tradition, General Washington, after 
the ceremony was performed, presented the gavel to 
Lodge No. 9, by placing it in the hands of the Master, 
who, at that time, was Valentine Reintzel, afterwards 
elected the first Master of Potomac Lodge, No. 43, of 
Maryland, when it was reorganized in 1806, which 
office he held until 1810 ; and in 1811, when the Grand 
Lodge of the District of Columbia was formed, he 
was chosen as the first Grand Master. 

" It is singular that we can nowhere find this lodge 
formed in 1789, recorded by any other name than that 
of Lodge No. 9. Although it seems in 1793 to have 
been in a very flourishing condition, yet from some 
cause it soon afterwards ceased to exist as then organ- 
ized. 

" Bro. John Mountz, Secretary of Lodge No. 9, in 
1793, has said that it received great accessions of mem- 
bers, and fell to pieces by its own weight, and as all 
its members have passed away, this is all that we can 
probably know of the cause of its suspension. 

" On 22d October, 1795, a petition was again re- 
ceived by the Grand Lodge of Maryland, from a num- 
ber of brethren in Georgetown, praying for a warrant, 
and recommended by Federal Lodge, No. 15, city of 



POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 279 

Washington, which petition was granted, and the sec- 
retary ordered to make out a warrant for the lodge, 
under the title of Columbia Lodge, No. 19. 

" The charter for Federal Lodge, No. 15 (the first 
lodge formed in Washington), had been granted by 
the Grand Lodge of Maryland, September 12th, 1793, 
just six days before the corner-stone of the Capitol 
was laid. 

" Of Columbia Lodge, No. 19, we have one book 
of records, commencing with its by-laws, and then the 
proceedings of the lodge from 7th November, 1795 — 
James Thompson, Master, and John Eeintzel, Secre- 
tary ; to 12th December, 1796, Charles Minor, Master, 
and James Thompson, Secretary. 

'■ James Thompson, first Master and then Secretary 
of this lodge, died in 1855, and visited our lodge in 
1854, when, with Bro. John Mountz, he testified to 
his belief in the authenticity of the Washington gavel. 

" The accounts of this lodge are kept in pounds, shil- 
lings and pence, Maryland currency. Members were 
fined 3s. 9d. (half-a-dollar) for non-attendance, and on 
every stated meeting night, refreshments were fur- 
nished to the brethren. The 13th article of their by- 
laws provides for the appointment of a committee of 
three, to furnish refreshments, under the direction of 
the lodge, on all stated meeting nights, which were on 
the second Monday of each month, and at every stated 
meeting the account for refreshments furnished at the 
preceding one, would be read, passed and ordered to 
be paid. Of this lodge it is probable we possess but 
a small part of the records. On 12th December, 1796, 



280 POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 

the last meeting of which we have any account, they 
elected their officers for the ensiling year, accepted an 
invitation from Federal Lodge, No. 15, to join them 
in procession on the next St. John's day, and passed 
a bill to pay for refreshments furnished at the last 
stated meeting, amounting to £1 3$. 9%d., all tending 
to show that the lodge was then in a vigorous and 
healthy state, but at some time between that date and 
1806, they, too, suspended operations. 

"As all the members of Lodge No. 19, have also 
passed away, we do not know the reasons why, or the 
time when the lodge ceased, and we have been una- 
ble to trace any tradition on the subject. 

" In November, 1806, we find from our next book 
of records, that a number of Masonic brethren, hav- 
ing the good of Masonry at heart, as well as for their 
own convenience as that of others, think it proper that 
there should be a lodge held in Georgetown, and for 
that purpose had a meeting, when it was unanimously 
agreed that each of the subscribers should pay into 
the hands of their trusty brother, Thomas Pryse, the 
sum of five dollars for the benefit of the same. The 
names of ten brethren are recorded as agreeing to 
this, and Thomas Pryse was authorized to attend the 
meeting of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, to be held 
at Easton on the 12th of November, 1806, with a pe- 
tition signed by these ten, praying for a warrant to 
establish a lodge. On the 18th November, 1806, a 
meeting of the brethren was held, when Bro. Pryse 
informed them that he had attended the meeting of 
the Grand Lodge, and obtained a charter. They then 



POTOMAC LODGE, F, A. A. M. 281 

appointed committees to select and get in order such 
things as would be necessary for the lodge. One of 
these committees consisted of Valentine Reintzel, Wil- 
liam Knowles, and Thomas Beatty; and their duty 
was to collect and receipt for the jewels, &c, in pos- 
session of John Laird and Adam King. At their 
third meeting, 22d November, 1806, this committee 
reported that they had obtained all the jewels, &c, in 
the possession of John Laird and Adam King. 

"At their fourth meeting, on 19th December, 1806, 
the lodge was organized, with Thomas Pryse as Mas- 
ter, under the name of Potomac Lodge, ISTo. 43, and 
on the same night went into an election for officers, 
when Valentine Reintzel was chosen Master, and Dan- 
iel Kurtz, Secretary, and from that period to this time 
the lodge has uninterruptedly kept up its organization 
without any suspension, tirst as Potomac Lodge, ISTo. 
43, of Maryland, and. when the Grand Lodge of the 
District of Columbia was formed in 1811, as Potomac 
Lodge, No. 5, of that jurisdiction. 

"The intimate connection between the three lodges 
that thus succeeded one another in this town, under 
charters from the Grand Lodge of Maryland, is shown 
by the fact, that two of the four brethren on the com- 
mittee to obtain the jewels, &c, viz : Valentine Reint- 
zel, and Thomas Beatty were, according to the pub- 
lished proceedings of that Grand Lodge, delegates 
to it from Lodge No. 9, at the semi-annual com- 
munication held at Easton, Maryland, on 19th April, 
1791, and the name of Valentine Reintzel appears as 
delegate from, and Master of, Lodge~TsTbT"9, at the 



282 POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 

communication of 11th April, 1793. The names of 
others of the brethren who assisted, in 1806, in organ- 
izing Potomac Lodge, No. 43, appear both as mem- 
bers of Lodge 19, and Lodge No. 9. Each lodge 
seems to have been partly composed of the same breth- 
ren as members, and they followed so close in succes- 
sion as to have inherited the one from the other, with- 
out dispute, all property, jewels, and records of the 
preceding lodge, just the same as if there had only 
been a reorganization, which in fact it was, although 
from some cause the charter had lapsed each time, 
and they obtained a new one with another name and 
number for the lodge. 

""We can observe that our late Bro. John MoUntz 
takes this view of it, when in his letter to the lodge, 
he says : ' I was Secretary of Lodge No. 9, now Poto- 
mac Lodge No. 5, in the year 1793.' About the same 
time, also, Bro. James Thompson, in response to some 
inquiries from this lodge, addressed to us the follow- 
ing letter : 

'"Washington City, May 23, 1854. 

" ' Brethren : In responding to your inquiries I 
offer the following remarks : I am now in the eighty- 
sixth year of my age, and have belonged to our an- 
cient and honorable order upwards of sixty years. I 
was Master of your lodge, then Columbia Lodge, No: 19, 
in the year 1795, and Secretary in the year 1796. 
Appointed delegate to represent the lodge at the Grand 
Communication held in the city of Baltimore in July, 
1796. Elected Secretary for the year 1797. 

"'I was one of eight oarsmen, and pulled the 



POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 283 

stroke oar of the barge that conveyed Bro. George 
"Washington across the Potomac, at Georgetown, on 
one of his visits to the East, and stood near, and saw him 
when he laid the corner-stone of the Capitol in 1793. 
" ' I am, brethren, most sincerely yours, 

J. THOMPSON. 
ut To the Worshipful Master, Wardens and Brethren, 

of Potomac Lodge, JSfo. 5, Georgetown.' 

" Here were two living witnesses of the circumstan- 
ces, both active members of No. 9, and No. 19, and 
frequent visitors to our lodge during their life, wiio 
concur in the same view, and evidently consider No. 
9, No. 19, and No. 43, of Maryland, or No. 5, of the 
District of Columbia, as identically one and the same 
lodge, even if, when reorganized, they had taken a 
different name and number. 

"During the suspension of the lodge, the Washing- 
ton gavel had been in the possession of Valentine 
Eeintzel, Master of Lodge No. 9, in 1793, and when 
it was reorganized as Potomac Lodge, No. 43, it was 
by him brought forward as the property of the lodge, 
and as we mentioned before, ordinarily used as the 
Master's gavel up to 1818. 

" Following the reorganization as described as Po- 
tomac Lodge, No. 43, we have its records from 19th 
December, 1806, to June 20th, 1808, when Valentine 
Eeintzel was still the Master, and Daniel Kurtz, Sec- 
retary. The same book also contains the first by-laws 
of the lodge, which are longer, and have many more 
rules than are now customary, and commence with 
the following curious preamble : 



284 POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 

"'We, the Master, officers and members of Poto- 
mac Lodge, No. 43, of the most ancient and honora- 
ble fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, duly con- 
stituted by charter from the Grand Lodge of Mary- 
land, bearing date the 12th day of November, A. D., 
1806, and now in opened lodge assembled at our lodge 

room in Georgetown, this day of January, 1807, 

Annoqae Lucis, 5807, in order to pay homage and ad- 
oration to the Grand Architect, whose divine wisdom 
having resolved to form the world, and reduced a wild 
chaos to a fair, regular and permanent system; and 
who not only traced out the whole plan of the Uni- 
verse, but gave life and being, form and figure, to 
every part of what before had been a rude indigested 
and immovable heap of matter, who said, ' Let there 
be light, and there was light,' and the dull, heavy and 
terrean parts of matter which over-clouded the expan- 
sion, obeyed the Almighty fiat, and began to range 
into form and order, and for the purpose of dissemi- 
nating brotherly love, relief and charity ; and to main- 
tain the principles of benevolence and religion incul- 
cated by our order — have made, established, and con- 
firmed the following articles, as a constitutional code, 
for the government of ourselves and our successors.' 

" Our next book of records seems at its commence- 
ment, to have had several leaves torn out, and now 
begins with the proceedings of a meeting held Decem- 
ber 17th, 1809, when the same brethren as before were 
still respectively Master and Secretary, but at an elec- 
tion held that evening, A. L. Joncherez was elected 
Secretary, instead of Daniel Kurtz, and from this date 



POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 285 

we have continuous records to the 19th August, 1811, 
when it is recorded in the secretary's writing — ' This 
journal ends at this last regular meeting.' Daniel 
Kurtz then Master, and "William Calder, Secretary; 
but, afterwards, in the back of the same book, we have 
records of meetings August 31st, 1812 ; February 15th, 
March 15 and 18, April 5th, May 17th, June 21st and 
24th, August 25th, September 20th, and December 
20th, 1813. It is probable the regular records for that 
time are lost, and these were only notes taken by the 
secretary on the nights of meeting, as many of them 
are written with a lead pencil, and few are signed. 

" Until 1810, the lodge met in the third story of the 
dwelling-house of Valentine Reintzel, then Master. 
This was a three-story brick house, situated on the 
west side of Jefferson Street, between the canal and 
Water Street, and was standing until about eight years 
ago, when it was destroyed by fire. But, at that time, 
having much increased in numbers, they were desir- 
ous of securing to themselves a more suitable place 
for their meetings. 

" They first presented a petition to the corporation 
proposing to j6in them in erecting at the market space 
a building which might serve as a town house and a 
Masonic Hall, but finally leased a lot on Jefferson 
Street; and on October 18th, 1810, it is recorded that 
this lodge in ample Masonic form laid the corner-stone 
of a building to be constructed for a Masonic Hall on 
the lot thus leased. 

" The proceedings on that occasion are spread in full 

on our records, and we give a concise abridgment of 
37 



286 POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 

them. The brethren formed in procession at their 
lodge-room, and went from there to the lower bridge, 
where they met their brethren from Washington; 
they then proceeded along the water side to the mar- 
ket space, thence to Bridge Street, where they were 
joined by the mayor, members of the corporation, and 
magistrates of the place ; then along Bridge to Jef- 
ferson Street, and down Jefferson Street to the place 
where the ceremony of laying the corner-stone was 
performed ; thence to the Presbyterian Church, where 
an appropriate discourse was delivered by Rev. Bro. 
Elliott, after which they went back to Jefferson Street, 
where the craft were called from labor to refreshment, 
and they partook of a collation prepared for the occa- 
sion. 

" The building erected at this time was finished by 
the following summer, and is still standing on the west 
side of Jefterson Street, and just north of the canal. 
In 1840, it was sold by the lodge and stockholders to 
Mr. Philip Gormley. 

" Our now venerable brother, James King, was ini- 
tiated on December 17th, 1810. He is still a member 
of our lodge, and is probably the oldest living Mason 
in the District of Columbia. 

" The Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia was 
formed by delegates from five lodges, on January 8th, 
1811, when Valentine Rein tzel, for years the Master of 
Lodge, No. 43, and in 1793, Master of Lodge, No. 9, was 
chosen as the first Grand Master ; and our lodge hence- 
forth was designated as Potomac Lodge, No. 5, of the 
District of Columbia, instead of No. 43, of Maryland. 



POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 287 

" We regret to say that we were unable to find any 
of the records of the lodge from December 20th, 1813, 
to January 24th, 1825. There is no doubt the lodge 
was in existence, and its records regularly kept, and 
in, at least, as prosperous a state as they had previously 
been. In 1818, the bible now used in the lodge was 
presented to it by Bro. George Richards, then Master. 
Previous to that time, the old bible referred to at the 
commencement of this report had been used. In 1818, 
a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons were formed in 
Georgetown, aud through accessions, chiefly from 
members of Potomac Lodge, No. 5, soon attained a 
flourishing condition. In 1823, our lodge returned to 
the Grand Lodge the names of twenty-four brethren 
as members, with Daniel Kurtz as Master, and Wil- 
liam Calcler, Secretary ; and in 1824, the names of 
thirty members, and "William Hayman, Master, and 
Edward Deeble, Secretary. During the intervening 
period, as near as we have been able to ascertain, Dan- 
iel Kurtz was Master in 1813, 1814, 1815, and 1816 ; 
John Wiley in 1817 ; George Richards in 1818, and 
James King in 1819, 1820', 1821, and 1822. 

" Our next book of records commences with the pro- 
ceedings of a meeting held January 24th, 1825, when 
John Myers was Master, and Edward Deeble, Secre- 
tary, and ends with the meeting on April 11th, 1836, 
when John Myers was again Master, and Thomas 
Holtzman, Secretary. 

" It was during part of this period, from 1827 to 
1836, that the anti-masonic excitement raged so fiercely, 
happily, not with so much intensity in this locality as 



288 POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 

in others, where Masonic lodges were forced to yield 
to the popular frenzy and suspend their operations, 
some of them for several years. The effect of this ex- 
citement on our lodge for a while, seems actually to 
have caused an increase in the number of its members. 
Probably, because persecution had its usual effect in 
binding the objects of it more closely together, and 
the attention of individuals amongst our citizens, who 
otherwise would not have thought of it, was called to 
the consideration of Masonry. They wished to ex- 
amine for themselves what this thing was, then so vili- 
fied ; and many of them sought and gained admission 
to our lodge, and became, afterwards, worthy and ac- 
ceptable members. The only notice taken of it in 
our records is, that on May 10th, 1830, Bro. Lorenzo 
Dow delivered an address in the lodge to its members 
and a large number of visiting brethren, giving them 
an interesting account of the present excitement and 
its tendency, and adding some wholesome advice. 
This was the celebrated and eccentric itinerent 
preacher, Lorenzo Dow, who was neither afraid nor 
ashamed to avow himself a Mason during the time pop- 
ular feeling ran highest, and was most bitter against 
them. In 1834, he died in Georgetown, at the house of 
one of our members, P. M., George W. Haller ; and our 
records show that on February 4th, 1834, the brethren 
of Potomac Lodge, No. 5, formed in procession to pay 
the last tribute of respect to their deceased brother, 
Lorenzo Dow, and went to the house of Bro. Haller, 
and there received the body, and then, with the re- 
mains of the deceased, the procession moved to Hoi- 



POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 289 

mead's burying-ground, where they were deposited 
with their kindred earth, and the usual Masonic cere- 
monies performed by the Master and brethren. 

" Our next book of records commences with the 
proceedings of a meeting held April 25th, 1836, John 
Myers, Master, and Thomas Holtzman, Secretary, and 
ends with the record of the meetiug of October 27th, 
1845, Edgar Patterson, Master, and James Goszler, 
Secretary. 

"During 1836 and 1837, through the inattention 
and falling off of its members, the lodge was at a very 
low ebb, and was only kept up by the exertions of 
some few of the more zealous of the brethren. In 
1837 but five meetings were held during the entire 
year. Perhaps this was owing to the reaction from the 
anti-masonic excitement which was then passing away. 
But on February 19th, 1838, a meeting was held, 
John Myers, Master, and Samuel Cropley acting as 
Secretary, when they reorganized the lodge by pass- 
ing the following resolution : 

" ' Resolved, That the members present are of the 
opinion that this lodge ought to be recognized, and 
that those members who have from time to time as- 
sembled here for the purpose be now considered as 
the only members, viz : John Myers, Jeremiah Orme, 
Henry "W". Tilley, Samuel Cunningham, William Jew- 
ell, Samuel Cropley, Daniel Kurtz, "William Hayman, 
Samuel Clark, Hiram Howard, Sebre Howard, Daniel 
Ragan, Jonathan Y. Young, and Robert Boyd ; and 
that it be so represented to the Grand Lodge, and that 
the residue be dropped from the roll for non-regular 



290 POTOMAC LODGE, ¥. A. A. M. 

attendance, and so reported. That all dues charged 
on the lodge books be abandoned as uncollectable, 
and that regular dues be collected from the acknowl- 
edged members from and after the regular meeting in 
this n 
dated. 



this month from which the reorganization is to be 



" Of the fourteen brethren who thus in 1838 reor- 
ganized the lodge, but three, we believe, are now liv- 
ing ; and but two, Henry W. Tilley and Samuel Crop- 
ley, are now members of it. In December, 1840, 
James King, who had for some years been absent from 
Georgetown, was, by a resolution of the lodge, admit- 
ted a member on the same terms as the original four- 
teen who thus reorganized the lodge, and on the same 
evening was elected the Master. 

" In 1840 the lodge and stockholders sold the house 
on Jefferson Street, erected in 1810 for a Masonic 
Hall, but for some time afterwards rented, and still 
held their meetings in, the upper story ; but in 1842 
they bought a house on Washington Street, opposite 
to the Union Hotel, the third story of which they fitted 
up as a lodge room, and thenceforth met in it. 

" During the years 1848, 1844, and 1845, from some 
cause of dissatisfaction with the Grand Lodge of the 
District of Columbia, this lodge made persistent efforts 
to withdraw from its jurisdiction. At one time a com- 
mittee was appointed to communicate with the Grand 
Lodge of Maryland on the subject. Committees of 
conference were also appointed to meet committees 
from the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia in 



POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 291 

reference to it, and on May 5th, 1845, a resolution 
was offered and passed, proposing to surrender the 
charter, and appointing a committee to ascertain and 
report the state of the funds of the lodge, and also to 
confer with the proper officers of the Grand Lodges 
of Virginia and Maryland, to ascertain what course 
should be pursued to obtain a charter from either of 
said Grand Lodges. 

"In 1811 our lodge appears to have drawn rather 
reluctantly from the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge 
of Maryland, to assist in forming the Grand Lodge of 
the District of Columbia, and from the notices on our 
record, a feeling of discontent with the Grand Lodge 
to which they were attached seems frequently to have 
existed. As one illustration, we will cite that on No- 
vember 25th, 1830, Brothers Kurtz, Haller, and Myers 
were appointed a committee, ' Eespecfulh' to memo- 
rialize the Grand Lodges of the District of Columbia 
and State of Maryland upon the re-ceding of this lodge 
back to the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Mary- 
land.' After 1845 our lodge appears to have become 
better contented with their condition, for from that 
time we find no record of any more propositions of 
the kind. 

" The next book of records contains the proceed- 
ings of the lodge from November 24th, 1845, when 
Edgar Patterson was Master, and James Goszler Sec- 
retary, to December 20th, 1854, when James Goszler 
was Master, and George Thompson Secretary. 

" In 1852 the lodge sold the building on Washing- 
ton Street, which they had occupied since 1842, and 



292 POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 

rented part of the third story of Forrest Hall, which 
they fitted up and furnished as a Masonic lodge room, 
in which to hold their meetings. 

" For some years past the Masonic fraternity in the 
United States had been gradually recovering from the 
depressing influences of the anti-masonic excitement. 
Other secret societies had appeared in the meantime, 
which, by their popularity and vast increase, seemed 
for awhile to over-shadow our beloved institution ; but 
Masonry, the oldest secret society now existing, by its 
sterling good qualities, gradually won its way to com- 
mand again, as it deserved, the respect of our country- 
men generally. Soon after their removal to Forrest 
Hall, our lodge felt the benefit of the general revival 
of an interest in Masonry ; and from this cause, to- 
gether with the zeal and attention of its officers and 
members, and probably, also, the change of the place 
of meeting to a more central location in the town, 
speedily had a considerable addition to its member- 
ship of worthy brethren and a rapid increase of its 
prosperity. 

" Our next book of records commences with the pro- 
ceedings of a meeting held December 27th, 1854, when 
James Goszler was Master, and M. Adler, Secretary, 
and ends with the record of the proceedings of the 
meeting of October 10th, 1859, when the same breth- 
ren were still respectively Master and Secretary. 

" We have now arrived at times in the history of 
our lodge, which, doubtless, are familiar to most of our 
brethren, for it was during this period that, perhaps, a 
majority of our present members were initiated. Our 



POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 293 

lodge was no longer feebly keeping its -existence by 
the untiring exertions of a few zealous brethren, but 
with the revival of an interest in Masonry, numbers 
were seeking admission into its sacred retreats, and 
our gates were besieged with the applicants for en- 
trance. In spite of the predictions of the anti-masons 
in 1836, that Masonry would soon pass away with 
other relics of barbarism, and be classed among the 
things that were, and that posterity would wonder 
that their ancestors could take pleasure in its solemn 
and unmeaning mummery, and be deluded by such a 
dangerous and wicked institution, Masonry had now 
become more popular than ever before in its history 
in this country, and more firmly rooted amongst our 
people. 

" With its increase of numbers and prosperity, the 
lodge soon became desirous of having a more spacious 
and convenient lodge room, in a building erected es- 
pecially for Masonic purposes. After several propo- 
sitions, they finally, in 1858, purchased for three thou- 
sand dollars the property on which our Masonic Hall 
now stands, then occupied by some old brick houses. 
The purchase money was advanced on the security of 
the property by one of our brethren. The lodge sub- 
scribed for five hundred dollars in stock, and the re- 
mainder was taken entirely amongst our members, with 
one exception, and that one a brother Mason ; and the 
property is now owned, with that exception, exclu- 
sively by the lodge and its individual members. On 
the 19th of August, 1858, after a procession of the 
brethren, the corner-stone of the building was laid in 

38 



294 POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 

ample Masonic form, after which an address was de- 
livered by the Grand Master. George C. Whiting, at 
the close of which he highly praised our members for 
their spirit shown in the attempt, by the members of 
a single lodge, to erect in the heart of the city such a 
building, to be devoted exclusively to Masonic pur- 
poses. The building was finished by the following 
May, 1859, when the lodge took possession of it, and 
first met in the lofty, spacious, and convenient room 
we now occupy. It cost about eleven thousand dol- 
lars, considerably more than was estimated, which, 
added to three thousand dollars paid for the property, 
makes the entire cost about fourteen thousand dollars. 
"What debts were incurred in its erection have mostly 
been paid, and we have every reason to believe that in 
two or three years they will all be liquidated, and the 
property will be owned, free from any incumbrance, 
by the lodge and stockholders. 

" Our next book of records, containing the proceed- 
ings from October 10th, 1859, to the present time, is 
the one now in use by the secretary ; and as we have 
not had it in our possession, not deeming that it was 
our duty according to the resolution under which we 
are acting to obtain it, we do not notice any of the 
events that have happened since that time. They are 
familiarly known to most of our brethren. 

" We have dwelt more upon the history of our lodge 
in past times than in those with which we are cotem- 
poraneous, and have endeavored to redeem from for- 
getfulness and record those things, the memory of 
which is rapidly passing away with the actors in them. 



POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 295 

Our records are now well kept and carefully preserved ; 
and at some future time, if desired, some of the breth- 
ren can take up the history of the lodge where we have 
left off. 

"Up to 1813, and, perhaps, even later, the regular 
business of the lodge, even to the election of officers, 
was transacted in the E. A. degree, and, unless for the 
purpose of conferring one of the other degrees, was 
always opened in that degree. After 1825, the lodge 
was generally opened in the M. M. degree, but up to 
1841, would occasionally be opened, and all the regu- 
lar business, such as reading the proceedings of last 
meeting, receiving petitions for initiation, referring 
them to committees, &c, be carried on either in the E. A. 
or F. C. degrees ; and when they expected to work in 
either of those degrees they generally opened in them. 

" In 1795 and 1796, the Past Master's degree was con- 
ferred by the lodge on nearly all their members, and 
up to 1843 or 1844, that degree was conferred by the 
lodge on any officer elect, and occasionally on any 
brother who wished to receive it. 

" According to our records, our lodge seems to have 
had and exercised the power to do many things to 
which it is not now considered competent, unless by 
direction and consent of the Grand Lodge. For in- 
stance, with an applicant for initiation or for any de- 
gree, our lodge exercised the power within itself to 
declare it a case of emergency, and to initiate a candi- 
date or confer the degrees at any time they saw fit ; 
also to make arrangements for, and have a Masonic 
procession at, any time or on any occasions the officers 



296 POTOMAC LODGE, F. A. A. M. 

and members judged best. Also, without permission 
from, or consultation with, the Grand Lodge, to lay, 
Masonically, the corner-stones of public buildings. 
We may mention, among others, that in 1811 this 
lodge laid the corner-stone of the Lancaster School- 
house ; in 1829, of the Methodist Protestant Church, 
and in 1831, of the Georgetown Poor-house, all in this 
town. On May 25th, 1829, it is recorded on our min- 
utes that an application was made to this lodge to lay 
the corner-stone of the first lock on the Chesapeake & 
Ohio Canal, whereupon it was resolved : ' That in case 
the Grand Lodge refuse (they being first invited) this 
lodge will undertake to perform that ceremony.' It 
was finally done by the Grand Lodge, who at first, on 
account of the anti-masonic excitement so prevalent 
at that time, hesitated to undertake it; but it is evi- 
dent that our lodge then had no doubt of their power 
and ability, with or without the Grand Lodge or their 
permission, to do the same. 

" We only chronicle the facts, and from these it ap- 
pears certain that the subordinate lodge now has less, 
and the Grand Lodge claims and exercises much more 
power than in former times. 

" "We herewith present in all seven books of records, 
four ledgers, one used in 1810 and 1811, one from 
1824 to 1836, one from March, 1845, to March, 1856, 
and one used from March, 1856, to January 1st, 1862; 
also, two stock books, one from 1825 to 1828, concern- 
ing the stock in the old Masonic Hall, on Jefferson 
Street, and one from 1843 to 1853, concerning the 
stock in the building on "Washington Street. 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 297 

" We append a list of books in our possession be- 
longing to the lodge, but have been unable to obtain 
many which, according to the records, have from time 
to time been purchased by or given to it ; for instance, 
of the Freemason's Monthly Magazine we have only been 
able to find fifty-two numbers, although the lodge sub- 
scribed to it from 1843 to 1862, and had several vol- 
umes bound, which we also were unable to find. 
" Kespectfully submitted, 

JOSEPH LIBBEY, Jr., 
CHARLES M. MATTHEWS, 

Committee. 
" Georgetown, D. C, November 6, 1865." 

SKETCH OF THE CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

The State of Maryland, by the numerous acts of its 
legislature passed in 1826, 1827, 1830, 1831, 1835, 1836, 
1843, and 1845, made large appropriations for the 
completion of the canal, and assumed entire control 
over the same, by the election of a president and 
directors, who would push on the work to its fixed des- 
tination. After many years of financial adversity, 
and difficulties of every kind to contend with, and fre- 
quent change of its president and directors, James 
M. Coale was finally elected president. Mr. Coale 
was a gentleman of great financial skill, and possessed 
of industry and indomitable perseverance in any under- 
taking, especially in the then deplorable condition of 
the canal company. He was elected president of the 
canal company in August, 1843. The company was 
prostrated and paralyzed, and its prospects were 
gloomy in the extreme. It was destitute of means 



298 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

and devoid of credit. It was overwhelmed with diffi- 
culties. In addition to its enormous liabilities to the 
State of Maryland, which were secured by mortgage 
liens on the canal and its revenues, the debts and 
obligations of the company due to individuals by the 
treasurer's report of October 1st, 1843, amounted to 
one million one hundred and seventy-four thousand 
five hundred and sixty-six dollars. Some of these 
creditors, to whom large amounts were due for work, 
had been reduced from affluence to poverty by the 
failure of the company to meet its engagements. 
President Coale, when he entered upon the duties of 
his office, infused new life and vitality into the com- 
pany. 

In the year 1842 the Legislature of Maryland, with 
a view of reducing the liabilities of the State and sev- 
ering its connection with internal improvement com- 
panies, passed a law authorizing the treasurer of the 
State to sell all of Maryland's interest in the public 
works. He was authorized to sell the whole of the 
interest of Maryland in the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal 
Company (at that time amounting to eight millions 
of dollars) for five millions, payable in bonds or 
certificates of debts of the State, bearing an interest 
not less than five per cent. After advertising the sale 
of the State's interest in numerous newspapers, he did 
not receive a single bid. 

"When president Coale took charge of the canal, 
with a view to its final completion, it was only navi- 
gable to dam ~No. 6, one hundred and thirty-four 
miles from Georgetown, to which point it had been 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 299 

finished in 1839, leaving fifty miles in an unfinished 
condition to complete it to Cumberland;, the cost of 
which was then estimated by the chief engineer at 
one million five hundred and forty-five thousand dol- 
lars. The United States and the citizens of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia and all the private stockholders had 
long previously discontinued their assistance, and the 
State of Maryland, which had from the beginning sus- 
tained the company under all disasters, was no longer 
able to render assistance. It had nothing to depend 
upon to sustain it but the receipts from tolls and water 
rents, and these were insufficient to discharge current 
expenses. 

The chronicler, availing himself of the numerous 
reports made by the president to the stockholders, will 
quote from them numerous extracts which will give a 
general outline of the completion of the canal to 
Cumberland. 

" In former years, and before its treasury had be- 
come exhausted, the deficiencies for these purposes 
had been supplied from the appropriations of the State 
and the general funds of the company. Although the 
practice of receiving scrip, in payment of tolls, had 
been abandoned, a debt had been accumulated, and 
was in arrear for current expenses incurred during 
the three preceding years, to the amount of sixty-nine 
thousand two hundred and fifty-six dollars and sixty- 
five cents, which was, principally, clue to the agents 
and laborers, then on the finished portion of the canal, 
for services that were indispensable to its operations. 
It was difficult to obtain even the necessary supplies 



300 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

of provisions for the hands, and far more difficult, 
under the circumstances, to retain them in service. 
In consequence of heavy breaches in the canal, pro- 
duced by the extraordinary freshets of April and Sep- 
tember, 1843, which were repaired principally by the 
aid of accommodations from the banks, the deficit at the 
close of that year was unusually large and embarrass- 
ing. The whole revenues of the year only amounted 
to forty-seven thousand six hundred and thirty-five 
dollars and fifty-one cents, and the current expenses 
to eighty-three thousand seven hundred and ninety-two 
dollars and eighty cents, showing an excess of ex- 
penses over income to the amount of thirty-six thou- 
sand one hundred and fifty seven dollars and twenty- 
nine cents. Such was the melancholy condition of the 
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company in the year 1843. 
It could scarcely have been considered a very politic 
step for any set of gentlemen to connect themselves 
with the company at that period, for the purpose of 
endeavoring to retrieve it from its fall, and complete 
the canal to Cumberland ; for the way of the world, 
generally, is to give credit to official labor, not accord- 
ing to the difficulties it has to overcome, but accord- 
ing to the measure of success with which it is crowned, 
and the chances of success were clearly against them. 
" In January, 1844, the company succeeded, after 
much controversy, in rescuing from assumed forfeit- 
ure £15,500 of the sterling bonds, which, in 1839, had 
been hypothecated in England, and which had been 
regarded as irrecoverably lost, together with a small 
amount of coupons overdue, by means of which it was 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 301 

enabled to discharge, to a considerable extent, the 
debts for current expenses, and, also, which was im- 
peratively called for, put the canal in somewhat better 
order than it had previously been. But the relief thus 
afforded was, necessarily, but temporary in its char- 
acter, and some permanent increase in the income be- 
came a subject of indispensable necessity, to maintain 
the navigation, and keep in motion the operations of 
the company. With a view to secure this as far as 
practicable, until the canal should be finished to its 
available terminus when expedients would no longer 
be necessary, an arrangement was concluded with the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, in September, 
1843, by which that company agreed to fix the charge 
for the transportation of coal at two cents per ton per 
mile from Cumberland to dam No. 6, there to be trans- 
ferred to the canal ; and at that rate to transport it for 
any person or persons so long, as in their judgment, 
it should not interfere with their general trade nor re- 
quire a materia] augmentation of their machinery. 
By reason of this arrangement, four thousand eight 
hundred and seventy-one tons of coal were transported 
on the canal during the year 1844, nearly the whole of 
which was transferred from the railroad at dam No. 
6 ; and even with the aid of this amount, which was 
merely a beginning of the trade, the tolls of the year, 
for the first time, exceeded fifty thousand dollars of 
available funds. In the years 1841 and 1842, the tolls 
were nominally above that sum, but scrip was then re- 
ceived in payment, which was bought at about fifty 
cents on the dollar; and the principal articles of trade 

39 



302 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

on the canal were then put at the highest rate of tolls 
authorized by the charter, so that the increased charge 
might, in some respect, compensate for the depreciated 
value of the funds in which it was paid. 

" The arrangement with the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 
road Company, if it had been continued and carried 
out in good faith on their part, would, both in its im- 
mediate effects and future results, have been of much 
benefit to this company in the then existing state of 
its affairs. It was, however, for very unsound and un- 
satisfactory reasons, as given, abandoned by the rail- 
road company in May, 1845, soon after the passage of 
the act providing for the completion of the canal to 
Cumberland, which, probably, had more effect in pro- 
ducing the abandonment than the grounds upon which 
it was placed. But the arrangement was merely in- 
tended by this company as the expedient of the day. 
The paramount and controlling importance of the 
early completion of the canal to Cumberland was 
always kept steadily in view. From the belief that 
the previous failures to obtain the necessary legislation 
from Maryland to enable the company to accomplish 
this great object, had resulted from a want of proper 
information in regard to the state of its affairs and 
the expediency of completing the canal, the president 
and directors in November, 1843, presented a special 
report to the stockholders, designed for publication, 
and to be submitted to the general assembly at the en- 
suing session, in which those objects were fully and 
clearly explained. The idea which had been started 
several years previously, and which was at that time 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 303 

revived with increased zeal and ardor, that the facili- 
ties of connection with the railroad at dam No. 6, su- 
perseded the necessity of extending the canal beyond 
that point, was likewise combatted and refuted ; and 
the policy and indispensable necessity of completing 
the work to Cumberland, merely viewing it as a finan- 
cial measure to Maryland, made manifest. The plan 
suggested, in consideration of the prostrate credit of 
the State, and which was alleged to be practicable if 
unencumbered with injurious restrictions, was the 
waver by the legislature of the State liens on the rev- 
enues of the canal, so as to empower the company to 
issue its bonds, with preferred liens on its revenues, 
to an amount not exceeding two millions of dollars. 
In principle and amount, it was similar to the measure 
which had been proposed and rejected by the legisla- 
ture at the December sessions of 1841 and 1842. 

" After showing that bids had been made to finish 
the canal for a less sum, in current money, than the 
engineer's estimate, which was one million five hundred 
and forty-five thousand dollars, the report proceeded : 
' In order, however, to give full strength to the credit of 
the company, so as to enable it to procure the required 
sum, upon fair and advantageous terms, it will be in- 
dispensably necessary to waive the State liens to a 
much larger amount, so that a broad and tangible 
basis may be presented for the bonds to rest upon. 
By this same means, the company will have to provide 
for the payment of the accruing interest on the sum 
that may be required for the construction of the work, 
until the net revenues of the canal become adequate 



304 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

to the purpose, which cannot justly be calculated on 
until a year after it reaches Cumberland, unless, in- 
deed (which was one of the objects of the connection), 
the coal trade shall be so much built up, under the 
operation of the arrangement with the railroad com- 
pany, as to give it a sufficient tonnage immediately 
upon its being completed to that point. But this ex- 
pectation ought not to govern the action of the legis- 
lature in this behalf. The better fortified the bonds 
are, the greater will be their value ; and as no more 
will be issued than will be necessary to finish the work 
and pay the interest on the cost thereof, in aid of the 
net tolls of the canal until they become sufficient for 
the purpose, together with a small outlay for repairs 
and improvements on the finished portion of the line, 
it will be to the interest of the State to leave a broad 
margin to the credit of the company. With this view, 
and to provide against al] contingences, we would rec- 
ommend a waiver of the State liens to such amount 
as may be found necessary for those purposes, not ex- 
ceeding the sum of two millions of dollars. This we 
would consider an ample and available provision for 
all the demands in the premises.' 

"But, notwithstanding the obvious policy of the 
State, the Legislature of Maryland at the December 
session, 1843, were not yet prepared to adopt the meas- 
ure suggested. The report of the company had been 
published too late to have any decided effect at that 
time. The elections had all previously taken place, 
and the members had been chosen under the influence 
of long cherished prejudices against the company in 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 305 

consequence of the misfortunes or improvident meas- 
ures of a former period of its history, and in ignor- 
ance of the real issue they were called upon to decide. 
No act was accordingly passed at that session. 

" At the December session, 1844, the application 
was renewed with unabated ardor and an array of ad- 
ditional arguments. The officers of the company stood 
almost alone in the vindication of the measure. The 
friends, who, on former occasions, had gathered to- 
gether to aid and support the company in its times of 
difficulty, were no longer seen. There were no gath- 
erings in primary meetings and no State convention 
to encourage and sustain it in its struggles for relief. 
Instead of friends to help, it was, indeed, surrounded 
by enemies to oppose. The city of Baltimore, oblivi- 
ous of its past support and of its earnest advocacy in 
former years of the completion of the work to Cum- 
berland, now took decided grounds in opposition to it. 
The columns of the press of the city teemed with 
essays and communications adverse to the measure 
which hadbeen proposed. The railroad company also, 
after all their previous protestations of enduring amity, 
with more diplomatic skill, sought to crush the effort 
by statements intended to show that a connection be- 
tween the railroad and the canal at dam ISTo. 6 ren- 
dered a further prosecution of the latter work wholly 
unnecessary. They likewise, and doubtless with a 
similar object, asserted that ' many years would elapse 
before the demand for coal would require more than 
one hundred thousand tons in any one year, whatever 
facilities of transportation may be afforded.' If the 



306 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

same powerful opposition had been arrayed against the 
completion of the canal at the December session, 1834, 
or even at that of 1835, the work at either of those 
periods would, most probably, have been stopped ; for, 
even with the active and combined exertions of the im- 
mediate friends of both of the great internal improve- 
ment companies, backed by the whole influence of the 
city of Baltimore, the appropriations on those occa- 
sions were obtained with great difficulty, and, as re- 
gards the latter, only after a prolonged struggle. But 
the subject in 1844 presented a very different aspect. 
It was now no longer a question of internal improve- 
ment merely, but also a question of finance — not 
whether the vast treasury of wealth which was locked 
up in the bosom of the mountains of Alleghany 
County should be opened and its contents added to 
the general aggregate of the State's resources by some 
facility of internal improvement, but whether the mil- 
lions which the State had invested in the Chesapeake 
& Ohio Canal Company should be given up as irre- 
trievably lost, or an effort be made to save and render 
them productive. Maryland had already expended 
seven millions of dollars in the prosecution of the 
canal, and had never anticipated a return from it until 
after the work should be finished. Neither more 
money nor the State's credit was now solicited. All 
that was asked of her was, that as she was herself in 
pecuniary difficulty, arising mainly from her support 
to this company, and as her investments in it must re- 
main valueless and unproductive until the canal should 
be completed to Cumberland, she would waive her 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 307 

unprofitable liens on the revenues to such an extent 
only as would enable the company to finish the work 
upon a preferred pledge of its future resources. Al- 
though, as we have remarked, the opposition was in- 
fluential, there was not wanting upon the floor of the 
house of delegates at the December session, 1844, 
Marylanders who fully appreciated the deep import- 
ance of the completion of the canal, and whose strong 
judgments and fervid eloquence were earnestly enlisted 
id favor of the plan that had been recommended. 
After a long and arduous struggle, the act waiving 
the liens of the State (1844, eh. 281,) under which the 
canal has now been completed, was passed. But it 
was only finally passed on the 10th of March, the last 
day of the session by the limitation of the constitution, 
and received merely a majority of one vote in each 
house of the general assembly ; and it was not passed 
even thus and then, until the bill originally proposed, 
which fairly embodied the application of the company, 
had been rejected in the house of delegates, and ulti- 
mately so materially modified that some of its most 
prominent advocates pronounced it valueless, and were 
disposed to abandon its support. 

" The act authorized the board of president and di- 
rectors to borrow or raise on the bonds of the com- 
pany, to be executed in a prescribed manner, and se- 
cured by a pledge of the revenues and tolls that may 
hereafter accrue on the canal and its works between 
Georgetown and Cumberland, such sum or sums of 
money as would be required to pay for the completion 
of the canal to Cumberland, under a contract or con- 



308 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

tracts thereafter to be made by the board and approved 
by the Maryland State agents, and the necessary ex- 
penses appertaining thereto ; and also to pay the inter- 
est on the bonds issued under the act, in aid of the net 
revenues, until they became sufficient for the purpose 
after the debts in arrear for repairs and officers sala- 
ries are discharged ; with a proviso that the whole 
amount of the bonds issued should not exceed one 
million seven hundred thousand dollars. The bonds 
were directed to be countersigned and approved by 
the Maryland State agents, or a majority of them ; 
and the company was forbidden to sell or hypothecate 
them at less than their par value; but it was author- 
ized to make contracts payable in them at par, and to 
pay thus for the whole or any part of the work, in- 
stead of raising money for the purpose, if the presi- 
dent and directors should deem it most expedient. 
The rights and liens of the State upon the revenues 
of the company were postponed and waived in favor 
of the bonds, so as to make them and the interest to 
accrue thereon preferred liens on the revenues, as 
above mentioned, with an express reservation, how- 
ever, that the president and directors shall, at all times, 
have the authority to use and apply such portion of 
the revenues and tolls as, in their opinion, may be nec- 
essary to put and keep the canal in good condition and 
repair, provide the requisite supply of water, and pay 
the current expenses of the company. 

"The interest on the bonds, at the rate, of six per 
cent, per annum, was to be made payable on the first 
of January and July in each year, and the principal 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 309 

in not less than thirty-five years ; the State, however, 
retaining the right to redeem them, upon payment of 
the principal and interest due thereon, at any time that, 
in the opinion of the legislature, the interest of the 
State might require it, hut in no event was it to be 
held responsible for such payment. 

" So soon as the revenues should be more than suffi- 
cient to pay the interest on the bonds and the interest 
on the certificates of debt issued to the creditors of 
the Potomac Company, under the 12th section of the 
charter, which is not to exceed five thousand dollars 
per year, the company was required to pay to the 
treasurer of the State, out of the surplus net revenues, 
such sum, not exceeding an average of twenty-five 
thousand dollars a year, dating from the first of Janu- 
ary next after the completion of the canal to Cumber- 
land, as may be necessary to constitute an adequate 
sinking fund; and the treasurer was directed to re- 
ceive such annual payments, under the responsibilities 
of his office, and to invest and accumulate the same, 
until a sufficient amount should be thus obtained to 
pay the principal of the bonds that may be issued, 
which he was directed to pay at maturity. Until the 
bonds were paid the said fund was to be considered as 
held for that purpose by the State of Maryland as 
agent for the company. 

" The president and directors were authorized to 
execute any deed, mortgage, or other instrument of 
writing that should be deemed necessary or expedient 
to give the fullest effect to the provisions of the act; 
and the company was required to execute to the State 

40 



310 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

of Maryland and deliver to the treasurer a further 
mortgage on the canal, its lands, tolls, and revenues, 
subject to the liens and pledges made, created, or au- 
thorized by this act, as additional security for the pay- 
ment of the two million loan made by the State under 
the act of December session, 1834, ch. 241, and the 
interest in arrear and to accrue thereon. 

" This act was, however, not to take effect until its 
provisions were approved, assented, and agreed to by 
the stockholders of the company in general meeting 
assembled ; and it was expressly provided that no bond 
should be issued under it until after one or more of 
the incorporated companies of Alleghany County, or 
other corporations or individuals, should, by an instru- 
ment or instruments of writing in clue form, with 
ample security, to be approved by the agents repre- 
senting the interest of the State in the company, or a 
majority of them, and the governor, guaranty to the 
company an aggregate transportation, on the entire 
length of the canal between Georgetown and Cumber- 
land, of not less than an average of one hundred and 
ninety-five thousand tons of tonnage per year for five 
years, dating from the end of six months after the 
canal shall have been completed to Cumberland. Such 
is the synopsis of the leading provisions of this impor- 
tant measures. 

" At the same session of the general assembly, the 
company, upon application, also obtained the passage 
of an act, amen datory of the charter, in regard to the 
adoption of by-laws, and the protection of the canal 
from injury, with some necessary provisions to pre- 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 31.1 

vent frauds upon the revenues, which was ratified and 
confirmed by Congress, after many efforts for the pur- 
pose, in September, 1850. 

"In the charter of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal 
Company, prior to the year 1844, there was no express 
power given to the company to borrow money for the 
construction or completion of the canal, and its right 
to do so had been much doubted. Even the force and 
validity of the mortgages which it had executed to the 
State of Maryland to secure the payment of the two 
millions loan had been called in question. Besides 
this, the time limited by the charter for the completion 
of the canal to Cumberland had expired in 1840, and 
since that period, the corporation had existed merely 
by the sufferance of the sovereignties which had 
created it. ISTo steps had previously been taken to 
procure amendments in either of these vital points. 
In the confident belief that the measure which had 
been suggested by the company at that time for the 
completion of the work in some shape, must, sooner or 
later, prevail ; and that it would prove ineffectual un- 
less the omissions and defects in the charter, to which 
we have referred, were first remedied and supplied, 
the board of president and directors, at the session of 
1843, transmitted a memorial to the Legislature of 
Virginia, asking for the passage of an act providing 
for the amendments indicated, and also enlarging the 
powers of the company in regard to the right of ex- 
tending the canal by a slack-water improvement to the 
mouth of Savage River, whenever it should hereafter 
deem it expedient to do so. A draft of a bill embrac- 



312 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

ing the provisions desired, and containing a reserva- 
tion as to the liens of Maryland, accompanied it. The 
Legislature of Virginia promptly acted upon the sub- 
ject and passed the bill in the form in which it was pre- 
sented, with some slight and unimportant additions, 
on the 20th of January, 1844. The act provides for 
an enlargement, and extension of the time for the 
completion of the canal to Cumberland, to the 1st of 
January, 1855 ; and an express authority is conferred 
on the president and directors, or a majority of them 
assembled, to borrow money, from time to time, to 
carry into effect the objects authorized by the charter 
of the company, to issue bonds or other evidences of 
such loans, and to pledge the property and revenues 
of the company for the payment of the same, and the 
interest to accrue thereon, in such form, and to such 
extent, as they may deem expedient, with a proviso, 
saving the prior rights or liens of the State of Mary- 
land, under the mortgages which had been executed 
by the company to this State, except in so far as they 
should be waived, deferred, or postponed by the Legis- 
lature of Maryland. The amendment, in regard to 
the slack-water improvement beyond Cumberland was 
to the effect already mentioned. The assent of the 
Legislature of Maryland was given to this act on the 
8th of February, 1844, and it was confirmed by Con- 
gress, and approved by the President of the United 
States, on the 17th of February, 1845. 

"At a general meeting of the stockholders of the 
company, assembled at the office of the company in 
Frederick, on the 29th of April, 1845, the president 



CHESAPEAEE & OHIO CANAL. 313 

and directors submitted authenticated copies of these 
several acts of Virginia, Congress, and the State of 
Maryland, amendatory of the charter, and they were 
duly accepted, and thus became a part of the charter 
of the company. At the same meeting, and on the 
same day, the president and directors also submitted 
to the stockholders the act of the general assembly of 
Maryland, entitled, 'An act to provide for the comple- 
tion of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal to Cumberland,' 
which we have already explained ; and they passed a 
resolution accepting and agreeing to its provisions, 
and authorizing the acceptance to be communicated 
to the treasurer of Maryland in the manner prescribed, 
and the mortgage to the State to be executed as re- 
quired. The acceptance was immediately communi- 
cated to the treasurer of Maryland, and the act there- 
upon went into effect. The mortgage, which was exe- 
cuted to the State, and delivered to the treasurer, pur- 
suant to the provisions of the seventh section of the 
act, bears date the 8th of January, 1846. 

" The important amendments to the charter, which 
have been described, were finally ratified by Congress 
about one month before the passage of the act, waiv- 
ing the liens for the completion of the canal. They 
were appreciated by the professional gentlemen who 
occupied seats in the Legislature of Maryland, in their 
consideration of the merits of the measure, as may be 
inferred from the provision made for the new mort- 
gage to the State. Without them, as we have here- 
tofore intimated, the act of the 10th of March, 1845, 
would have been wholly unavailable. Even fortified 



314 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

and sustained by them, serious doubts were generally 
entertained whether the conditions of the act could 
be fulfilled and complied with, or, if complied with, 
whether, with the limited amount and kind of means 
contemplated and authorized by its provisions, the com- 
pany could secure the completion of the canal to Cum- 
berland. These doubts, unfortunately, tended to in- 
crease the intrinsic difficulties of the act. 

" In the year 1841, the chief engineer made a detailed 
estimate of the work done and to be done on the fifty 
miles above dam No 6, and on the 1st of December, 
1842, after the operations on the line had ceased, he 
estimated the amount then required to complete the 
canal to Cumberland at one million five hundred and 
forty-five thousand dollars. 

" In consequence of a change made in the charac- 
ter of certain portions of the masonry, and for other 
causes, requiring a variation in the previous estimates, 
the chief engineer made a revised estimate in August, 
1845, and, with an allowance of fifteen per cent, for 
land damages, superintendence, and other contingen- 
cies, estimated the cost of completing the canal at one 
million four hundred and four thousand four hundred 
and seventy- one dollars. The work previously exe- 
cuted between dam No. 6 and Cumberland, amounted, 
as then ascertained, to two million eight hundred and 
ninety-two thousand dollars. 

" The first requirement of the act of December ses- 
sion, 1844, ch. 281, to give effect to its operative pro- 
visions, was the execution of the guaranty of tonnage, 
and its approval in the mode prescribed. Until this 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 315 

should be accomplished no bond could be issued under 
it. A condition of similar character had rendered 
abortive the act of March session, 1841, authorizing a 
loan of two millions of dollars of State securities to 
the company, as has been shown. The same result 
was generally predicted for this, and the impression 
produced an unfavorable effect, and caused a listless- 
ness on the part of the incorporated companies of Alle- 
ghany County, whose assistance had been most confi- 
dently relied on. But, by persevering exertions, and 
the active and efficient co-operation of the friends of 
the canal in the District of Columbia and the western 
counties of Maryland, the full amount of guaranty re- 
quired by the act was obtained. Three of the incor- 
porated companies ultimately joined in the measure to 
a limited amount. The instruments of guaranty were 
prepared in such a form as to divide the responsibility, 
and enlist the largest number of guarantors. Twenty- 
eight instruments of this description were executed and 
delivered to the company. They were laid before the 
governor and the Maryland State agents, and received 
their approval on the 29th of July, 1845. 

'* By the fulfilment of this embarrassing condition, 
the president and directors of the company were placed 
in a situation to avail of the benefits of the law, and, 
after a long and toilsome struggle against difficulties, 
which at times seemed almost insurmountable, they 
finally succeeded in completing the canal under it. 

" "Without dwelling on the details of the various nego- 
tiations and proceedings which took place, or averting 
to the critical position of affairs on several occasions, 



316 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

we will trace, briefly, the progress of events to the final 
accomplishment of the purposes of the law, and, after 
a reference to a few antecedent transactions, which it 
is proper to notice, hasten to a conclusion. 

" It has been seen that the act of 1844 did not place 
any money at the disposal of the company for the com- 
pletion of the canal, furnish it with State bonds, as on 
previous occasions, nor even waive the liens to the ex- 
tent recommended, and clothe it with available power 
to raise money on its own bonds to be issued under 
the act ; but, in effect, merely authorized the board of 
president and directors to issue the company's bonds, 
upon a pledge of its disencumbered revenues, to an 
amount not exceeding one million seven hundred 
thousand dollars, for the purpose of completing the 
canal to Cumberland, then estimated to cost one mil- 
lion five hundred and forty-five thousand dollars in 
money, and of paying certain expenses necessarily 
growing out of a fulfilment of this provision, which, 
at a moderate calculation, could not have been com- 
puted at less than one hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
lars, and which have actually somewhat exceeded that 
sum ; and to render this limited amount of the bonds 
of the company sufficient for the objects indicated in 
the act, the liens of the State, then having priority, 
were waived and postponed in their favor. Little 
more than one year previously, these liens, together 
with the whole interest of the State in the company, 
amounting in all to upwards of eight millions of dol- 
lars, had been advertised for sale in the money mar- 
kets of Europe and America, upon an offer to receive 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 317 

therefor the sum of five millions of dollars in Mary- 
land State bonds, which then commanded less than 
fifty cents on the dollar, without attracting a bid or 
eliciting a single inquiry upon the subject; and their 
waiver, by the State, could only give value to the liens 
that were to be preferred to them, in proportion as it 
gave assurance of the completion of the canal. 

" In the general depreciation of American securi- 
ties at that period, with Mainland herself in discredit, 
and in view of the comparatively small means allowed 
for the accomplishment of the ends proposed, a sale of 
the bonds at par was utterly unattainable, and a resort 
to a contract, payable in the bonds, and covering all 
the subjects necessary to be provided for, became the 
only practicable course for the company to pursue, and 
it was accordingly adopted. After duly advertising 
for proposals, the board of president and directors, 
with the approval of the Maryland State agents, con- 
cluded an agreement to that effect on the 25th of Sep- 
tember, 1845. The contract was full of details, and 
guarded with the utmost care in all its provisions. 
For the consideration of one million six hundred and 
twenty-five thousand dollars of the bonds to be issued 
under and pursuant to the act of 1844, ch. 281, the 
contractors, four in number, bound themselves to com- 
mence the work within thirty days, and within the 
period of two years finish the canal to Cumberland, 
according to the plans and specifications of the 1st of 
December, 1842, estimate as modified and explained 
by certain memoranda attached thereto, to pay to a 

trustee, for the use of the company, in twenty-one 
. 41 



318 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

monthly instalments, an aggregate sum of one hund- 
red thousand dollars in money, to enable the board of 
president and directors to liquidate land claims, engi- 
neering and other incidental expenses, and to pay the 
interest on the bonds to be issued under the act until, 
and including the half year's interest that would fall 
due, after the work had been finished. The bonds 
were to be paid at their par value only as the work 
progressed and the respective provisions of the con- 
tract were complied with. The payments for construc- 
tion were to be based upon the chief engineer's esti- 
mates of work actually executed, which were to be 
made out monthly, the company reserving the right 
to retain a certain percentage as security ; and by way 
of superadded obligation to the execution of the in- 
strument, the parties executed their bonds, with ap- 
proved security, to the company, to commence the 
work within thirty days, and to prosecute it at an ex- 
penditure of at least one hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars. The contractors also bound themselves to 
cash, at par, the remaining seventy-five thousand dol- 
lars of bonds authorized to be issued by the act, if re- 
quired to do so by the company. To the board of 
president and directors was reserved full power to de- 
clare the contract abandoned upon a non-compliance 
on the part of the contractors with any of its mate- 
rial provisions. And with a view of guarding all the 
bonds issuable under the act from depreciation, and 
of insuring the accomplishment of the undertaking, 
a provision was incorporated that no bonds should be 
paid to the contractors for the execution of the work 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 319 

until they had given bond with ample security for the 
fulfilment of the entire contract, or concluded an ar- 
rangement for the negotiation of such amount of the 
company's bonds to which they might become entitled, 
as would afford to the Maryland State agents and the 
board of president and directors a reasonable guar- 
anty of their ability to comply with their engagements. 
" The above is a concise outline of the principal pro- 
visions of the original contract. It was not at the 
time deemed probable that the security for the large 
amount that would be required could be given, and 
the avowed reliance of the contractors was on an ar- 
rangement for the disposal of the bonds. They did 
not, however, we believe, suppose that this could be 
effected until after the State of Maryland had pro- 
vided for the resumption of the payment of interest 
on the State debt, because they had ascertained, and, 
indeed, the company had previously been distinctly 
informed, by its London correspondents, that capital- 
ists regarded ' the interests of the company and the 
State so interwoven,' that whilst the State's securities 
were dishonored the company's bonds could not be 
negotiated. The contractors thought that their own 
private means and resources would enable them to 
prosecute the work until after the close of the ensuing 
session of the legislature, and it was confidently be- 
lieved, on all sides, that at that session provision would 
be made for the public liabilities, and that they could 
then make a satisfactory negotiation. Soon after the 
date of the contract, therefore, they commenced the 
work between dam No. 6 and Cumberland, and prose- 



320 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

cuted it until June, 1846, when, the legislature having 
met and adjourned without passing an act to restore 
the credit of the State, and their private means being 
exhausted, they were compelled to suspend operations. 

" The last report made by the chief engineer, previ- 
ous to the suspension, showed that the work done under 
the contract according to the revised estimate of 
August, 1845, which he took as his guide, amounted 
to the sum of fifty-five thousand three hundred and 
eighty-four dollars. The contractors, however, had re- 
ceived from the company no part of this sum, as they 
had not yet placed themselves in a situation to be en- 
titled to payments. Although applications were made 
for an advance of bonds, none had yet been issued. 

" The company having made known its willingness 
to allow the contractors a reasonable time to mature 
their financial arrangements, they continued actively 
engaged in the effort to make a negotiation, and se- 
cured the services of several distinguished gentlemen 
and financiers to aid them. One of the contractors 
went to England for the purpose of giving his personal 
attention to the subject, and with the assistance of con- 
ditional promises, obtained from the capitalists on this 
side of the Atlantic, succeeded in arranging for a nego- 
tiation there, predicated mainly upon the resumption of 
payment by Maryland, but with reservation of a right 
to the parties to decline if a change should take place in 
the money market. As in the case of the loan for the 
benefit of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, two experi- 
enced gentlemen had previously been appointed by the 
English capitalists, to inquire into the probable produc- 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 321 

tiveness of the canal when finished, and other matters 
submitted to them ; and they had fully examined the 
whole subject and made an elaborate and favorable 
report. At December session, 1846, this state of things 
was known to the legislature, and the friends of the 
canal were among the most zealous and indefatigable 
advocates for the restoration of State faith, both on 
account of the good name of the State, and the known 
bearing of the measure upon the procurement of means 
for the completion of the canal. On the 8th of March, 
1847, the Legislature of Maryland passed a law for 
funding the arrears and punctually paying the interest 
accruing on the State debt after the 1st of October, 
1847. On the application of the contractors, the Leg- 
islature of Virginia, on the 8th of March, 1847, passed 
an act, accommodated to the terms of the contract, in 
regard to a negotiation, and authorizing a guaranty of 
the bonds to the amount of three hundred thousand 
dollars, which gave additional efficacy to the provi- 
sions of the act of 1844; and in the succeeding month, 
the District cities and certain citizens of Alexandria, 
subscribed, on similar terms, for one hundred thou- 
sand dollars of the bonds at their par value, for the 
purpose of aiding the work. But the guaranty and 
subscriptions were all conditional, and their availabil- 
ity depended upon the contractors obtaining from other 
sources an amount of money, which, when superadded 
to their aggregate, would constitute a fund sufficient 
for the completion of the canal. It was supposed that 
this amount had already been secured by the condi- 
tional arrangement that had been made in England, 



322 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

in as much of the difficulties which then existed had 
been removed, and the application in that quarter was 
accordingly renewed. The prospect of success was for 
a time nattering, but contrary to all expectations, the 
London parties, through their agent in Boston, ab- 
ruptly withdrew from the negotiation just as it was 
about to be concluded, upon the ground that, though 
Maryland had resumed payment, a change had taken 
place in the money market. This was the reason given, 
but it was not considered as the influencing cause of 
the course that was pursued. The Boston agent had 
desired distinct and specific information in regard to 
the questions, Whether the canal could be finished 
with the aggregate sum of money which would be re- 
alized by the contractors from the proposed arrange- 
ment, viz : one million one hundred thousand dollars, 
which they considered sufficient for their purposes; 
and, secondly, whether it could be completed with the 
whole amount of bonds authorized to be issued by the 
company, under the act of 1844. These inquiries 
were propounded on the 14th of April, 1847, to one 
of the gentlemen who, at the instance of the London 
capitalists, had made the investigations in regard to 
the canal in 1846, and who was an engineer of ap- 
proved experience. His reply bears date the 17th of 
the same month. To the first question, his answer 
was distinctly in the negative ; in reference to the sec- 
ond, he stated that, if all the bonds at the command 
of the company could be disposed of without serious 
loss, and certain legitimate modifications, which he in- 
dicated were made in the character of the work, the 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 323 

means provided would be sufficient, but, in his opin- 
ion, not otherwise. It was doubtless these replies, to 
receive which the Boston agent had deferred his final 
answer for several days, that produced the failure of 
the negotiation ; for the withdrawal of the proposition 
of the London capitalists was, thereupon, decisive and 
absolute. 

" The prospects of the company were at this period 
discouraging. After sounding all the depths of the 
money markets on both sides of the Atlantic, and 
offering the bonds at a great discount, the contractors, 
though aided and strengthened by the Virginia guar- 
anty and the par subscriptions of Alexandria and the 
District cities, had been unable to effect an arrange- 
ment for the funds required by them to comply with 
their engagements, and the disinclination of capital- 
ists to purchase the bonds, had arisen, not from an ap- 
prehension in regard to the productiveness of the 
canal when finished, but from a belief in the inade- 
quacy of the amount of bonds authorized and the 
amount of money that could be realized therefrom for 
the accomplishment of its completion. And whilst 
the aspect was thus gloomy without, the state of af- 
fairs was scarcely more favorable within. During the 
years 1846 and 1847, this region of country was visited 
with a series of freshets, which in magnitude and 
rapidity of succession were without example. Con- 
siderable damage was done by them to the canal, par- 
ticularly on the lower division, and scarcely was suffi- 
cient time afforded to mend the breaches occasioned 
by one, before they were renewed by another inunda- 



324 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

tion of the Potomac. In the straightened condition 
of the finances of the company, when it could barely 
struggle along, in ordinary years, with its annual re- 
ceipts, this increase of expenses was exceedingly em- 
barrassing. With the aid of temporary loans obtained 
from the banks, however, the damage was repaired. 

" In regard to the contract for the completion of the 
canal, the president and directors of the company 
yielded to circumstances, and, planting themselves 
firmly upon the position originally assumed — that they 
would issue no bonds until a satisfactory negotiation 
had been consummated — acquiesced in a further delay 
of the operations. The early completion of the canal, 
important as it was undoubtedly considered, was not 
the subject of most solicitude, either with them or the 
friends of the company generally. Under the act of 
1844, as we have seen, it was not a question of time, 
but a question of practicability ; not whether the canal 
could be finished by a given day, but whether it could 
be finished with the means provided for the purpose. 
By the omission of the contractors to prosecute the 
work continuously, their contract was liable to forfeit- 
ure at the pleasure of the president and directors of 
the company ; but such a measure, even under the ex- 
isting unfavorable appearances, could have produced 
no benefit, but on the contrary would have tended to 
make tilings worse. If the contract had been annulled, 
the Virginia guaranty and the par subscriptions of 
Alexandria and the District cities, which the contract- 
ors had secured and brought to their assistance, would 
have gone down with it, and the company would have 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 325 

been thrown back upon the sheer provisions of the 
then discredited act of 1844 for the means to complete 
the canal to Cumberland. Under these circumstances, 
therefore, the president and directors forbore to exer- 
cise their power of annulment, and the prudence of 
their course was justified by the result. Although the 
last effort of the contractors to raise the requisite 
means to comply with their contract seemed decisive 
of failure, it was only the prelude to a final arrange- 
ment. 

" So soon as the London capitalists abandoned the 
negotiation, the attention of the contractors and their 
agents was turned exclusively to this country. Two 
of the gentlemen whose assistance they had engaged, 
issued a pamphlet bearing date the 10th of July, 1847, 
in which they explained the provisions of the act of 
1844, and the contract made under it for the comple- 
tion of the canal ; referred to the guaranty act of Vir- 
ginia, and the subscriptions of Washington, George- 
town, and Alexandria, and to an agreement made 
with the sub-contractors, by which they consented to 
receive two hundred thousand dollars of the bonds at 
par in payment for their work ; and exhibited a state- 
ment, showing the sum of money which, in their judg- 
ment, would be sufficient to accomplish the undertak- 
ing. This sum was one million one hundred and 
seventy-two thousand one hundred and sixteen dollars, 
and it was arrived at by a calculation based upon sub- 
contracts which, it was stated, had been previously 
entered into' by the contractors for about two-thirds of 

the work remaining to be executed between dam No. 
42 



326 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

6 and Cumberland. To the exposition thus made the 
attention of capitalists was invited, and on the 13th of 
October, 1847, the contractors, through the medium of 
three distinguished gentlemen of the North, two of 
whom were the authors of the above-mentioned pam- 
phlet, succeeded in finally concluding a satisfactory 
negotiation. According to its terms, which assumed 
that six hundred thousand dollars of the bonds had 
been disposed of at par in the manner above indicated, 
the contractors agreed to sell to certain parties resid- 
ing principally in Boston, New York, and Washing- 
ton City, at the rate of sixty cents on the dollar, eight 
hundred and thirty-three thousand three hundred and 
thirty-three dollars of bonds they were to receive from 
the company at par, upon a compliance with the re- 
spective provisions of their contract, leaving still of 
the consideration therein mentioned a margin of one 
hundred and ninety-one thousand six hundred and 
sixty-seven dollars of the bonds undisposed of, which 
were regarded as a reserved fund to supply deficien- 
cies if they should occur. They also at the same time 
constituted and appointed the three gentlemen, alluded 
to, their agents and attorneys in the execution of their 
contract for the completion of the canal, and author- 
ized them to receive the bonds from the company, 
from time to time, as they should become payable 
under its provisions, and sell or distribute them in 
conformity with the arrangement. 

" The Maryland State agents and board of presi- 
dent and directors, in view of the entire arrangement 
made by the contractors, including the guaranty and 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 327 

par subscription, and of the guards and conservative 
provisions of the contract for the work, considered the 
clause in reference to a negotiation as now sufficiently 
complied with, and accordingly consented to issue and 
pay out the bonds as the work proceeded. 

" We will here remark that a mortgage, pursuant to 
the 6th section of the act of 1844, to give full effect 
to its provisions, was subsequently executed by the 
company, and bears date the 6th of June, 1848. 

" Some time after the execution of the contract for 
the completion of the canal, two of the original con- 
tractors withdrew from the co-partnership, and Thomas 
G. Harris, of Washington County, Maryland, became 
associated with the remaining two, who were James 
Hunter, of Virginia (whose indomitable perseverance 
and indefatigable exertions merited better fortune than 
ultimately befel him in his connection with the work), 
and William B. Thompson, of the District of Colum- 
bia. The three became associated in a firm under the 
name of Hunter, Harris & Co. The contract was ac- 
cordingly so modified in November, 1847, and the 
time for completion having been extended, and other 
satisfactory alterations made in its provisions, under 
some of which certain specific parts of the work were 
dispensed with, and changes in the plan of construc- 
tion made in a few others, with a view to a saving of 
cost, which was then found absolutely necessary, the 
operations were resumed and, under the pressure of 
constant embarrassments, with appeals to the com- 
pany, frequent and urgent, for relief, which was, from 
time to time, extended to them, as often, and as far, 



328 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

as it could be allowed without hazarding the comple- 
tion of the canal, were steadily prosecuted under the 
immediate management of Messrs. Hunter & Harris, 
until the 11th of March, 1850, when they were sus- 
pended in consequence of the pecuniary difficulties of 
the contractors, arising from the large sacrifices they 
had sustained in their sales of the bonds. They had, 
indeed, for some time previously, avowedly abandoned 
the hope of profit, but were stimulated to persever- 
ance in the prosecution of their arduous undertaking, 
by an honest ambition to complete the canal and com- 
ply with their engagements. The suspension, how- 
ever, only lasted for a few days. Messrs. Hunter, Har- 
ris & Co., made an assignment of their interest in the 
contract to two of their agents and attorneys for the 
benefit of their creditors. The work was again put in 
motion, under the assignment, and its prosecution con- 
tinued until the middle of July, 1850, when the agents 
and assignees finally stopped operations and aban- 
doned it, from an inability, under the very" disagreea- 
ble and difficult circumstances in which they were 
placed to complete the canal, with the remaining 
means that were applicable to the purpose. 

" Upon the certificate of the chief engineer in re- 
gard to the facts of the case, the board of president 
and directors, on the 17th of July, formally declared 
the contract abandoned, and on the following day en- 
tered into a new contract with Michael Byrne, of Fred- 
erick County, for the final completion of the canal. 
The aggregate of the work remained to be done at 
this period was inconsiderable, but it consisted of un- 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 329 

finished parts, at numerous places along the line be- 
tween dam No. 6 and Cumberland, and was, conse- 
quently, tedious and troublesome in its execution. Mr. 
Byrne commenced promptly and prosecuted it with 
diligence. He had so far progressed by the 10th of 
October, 1850, that, on that day, the canal was opened 
for the purposes of navigation throughout the entire 
line to Cumberland, and the through trade then com- 
menced. He, however, still continued to press for- 
ward the work, which, being now of an external char- 
acter only, did not interfere with the passage of boats, 
and on the 17th of February, 1851, the final payment 
was made to him under and pursuant to the provisions 
of his contract. From that period may be dated the 
completion of the Chesapeake $• Ohio Canal to Cumber- 
land. The terms of the contract with Mr. Byrne, and 
the payments of all the bonds issued under the Mary- 
land act of 1844, ch. 281, together with the parties to 
whom and the purposes for which the bonds were 
issued and paid, have been stated and explained in the 
preliminary report which precedes this narrative, and 
need not be here repeated. 

" The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, between George- 
town and Cumberland, lies on the north or Maryland 
side of the river, with the advantages of a southern 
exposure, and pursues the immediate valley of the Po- 
tomac throughout its whole length, except at a point 
called the Pawpaw Bend, about twenty-seven miles 
below Cumberland, where it passes through the moun- 
tain by a tunnel three thousand one hundred and eigh- 
teen feet in length, and lined and arched with brick 



330 CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

laid in cement, by which about six miles in distance 
have been saved. From the Rock Creek basin in 
Georgetown, where it first reaches tide-water, to the 
basin at Cumberland, is one hundred and eighty-four 
and four-tenths miles, and the total rise from the level 
of mid-tide at Georgetown to the Cumberland basin, 
is six hundred and nine and seven-tenths feet. This 
ascent is overcome by seventy-four lift-locks, and a 
tide-lock that connects Eock Creek basin with the Po- 
tomac River. From a point about a mile west of 
Rock Creek basin, the Alexandria Canal, seven miles 
in length, diverges from the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal 
and crosses the Potomac River by an aqueduct eleven 
hundred feet long, and connects with tide-water at 
Alexandria. The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal is con- 
structed for a depth of six feet throughout. From 
Georgetown to Harper's Ferry, sixty miles, it is sixty 
feet wide at the surface, and forty-two feet at the bot- 
tom. From Harper's Ferry to dam No. 5, forty-seven 
miles, the width at the surface is fifty feet, and at the 
bottom thirty-two feet ; and from dam No. 5 to Cum- 
berland, seventy-seven and one-half miles, the surface 
width is fifty-four feet, and the bottom thirty feet. 
The average lift of the locks a little exceeds eight feet. 
They are one hundred feet long and fifteen feet wide 
in the clear, and are capable of passing boats carrying 
one hundred and twenty tons of two thousand two 
hundred and forty pounds. 

" The present supply of water for the canal is drawn 
entirely from the Potomac. For this purpose dams are 
constructed across the river at seven different points. 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 331 

" From a statement made out by the clerk from the 
books of the company, with an additional allowance 
for a few small unsettled claims, it appears that the cost 
of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, from the mouth of 
Tiber Creek in the city of Washington to the town 
of Cumberland, a distance of one hundred and eighty- 
five and seven-tenths miles, for construction, engi- 
neer expenses, lands and other contingencies properly 
applicable to construction, amounts, in the aggregate, 
to the sum of eleven million seventy-one thousand 
one hundred and seventy-six dollars and twenty-one 
cents, or fifty-nine thousand six hundred and eighteen 
dollars and sixty-one cents per mile." 

On the 10th of October, 1850, the Chesapeake & 
Ohio Canal was completed from Georgetown to Cum- 
berland. The following boats loaded with coal started 
for the District of Columbia : Southampton, Elizabeth, 
Ohio, and Delaware, belonging to the Merchants' Line 
of McKaig & Agnew, and the Freeman Bawdon be- 
longing to the Cumberland Line. The levels not be- 
ing full of water in the new portion of the canal, the 
boats had great difficulty in passing down, frequently 
running aground; and it was not. till the 17th day of 
October (when the chronicler was standing on the 
aqueduct), that he saw the first boat from Cumberland, 
the Freeman JZawdon. In going around the bend of 
the canal, at the Columbian Foundry, a gun was fired 
announcing her arrival as the first boat from the coal 
regions. She was soon afterwards followed by other 
boats ; and thus the canal trade was opened to George- 
town, and has continued ever since, except when in- 



332 CHESPEAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 

terrupted by breaches in the bank of the canal occa- 
sioned by heavy freshets in the river. 

The quantity of coal shipped from Cumberland to 
Georgetown since the completion of the canal to 31st 
of December, 1876, was ten millions two hundred and 
fifteen thousand two hundred and six tons. The capi- 
tal stock of the company was eight million two hund- 
red and twenty-six thousand five hundred and ninety- 
three dollars and sixty-seven cents ; the loan by the 
State of Maryland was two million dollars, on which 
interest is to be added to 31st of December, 1876, mak- 
ing in the aggregate the sum of four million four hund- 
red and ninety-five thousand dollars. Other expenses 
of the company, such as guaranteed dividends, payable 
out of the net profits of the canal, nine million fifty-six 
thousand two hundred and fifty dollars; tolls collected, 
water rents, and other revenues, seven million eight 
hundred and fifty-five thousand eight hundred and fifty- 
two dollars. The number of boats cleared to George- 
town from 1870 to 31st of December, 1876, was forty- 
eight thousand nine hundred and forty-nine, bringing 
five million four hundred and sixty-three thousand four 
hundred and fourteen tons of coal ; the number of boats 
loaded at Cumberland from 1872 to 31st of December, 
1876, was as follows ; at the Potomac wharf, ten thous- 
and eight hundred and fifty-three ; at the Basin wharf, 
fourteen thousand four hundred aneffour ; at Consoli- 
dation wharf, ten thousand three hundred and thirty- 
two, ^he use of steamers on the canal for the trans- 
portation of freight will supersede the towing of boats 
by horses and mules. There are now sixteen steamers 



THE OUTLET LOCK. 333 

running from Cumberland to Georgetown ; and dur- 
ing the year 1876 the following number of trips were 
made by them : the A re turns, twenty-nine round trips ; 
the New Era, twenty-seven round trips; the L. Patten, 
twenty-four round trips ; the A. Lovel, eighteen round 
trips ; the Star, No. 1, fifteen round trips ; the Star, 
No. 2, fifteen round trips; the W. T. Weld, fifteen 
round trips; the other steamers made from two to 
thirteen trips each. 
Receipts from all sources, including 

stock and loans ....$35,746,301 07 

The whole expenditures of the canal 
from its beginning to 31st of Decem- 
ber, 1876, have been 35,659,055 06 

Net balance on hand $87,246 01 

THE OUTLET LOCK. 

To give greater facility to the passage of boats from 
the canal to the river, a company was formed, in 1875, 
to build and erect a railway or inclined plane, about 
a mile above Georgetown, that would pass loaded 
boats from the canal to the river without the trouble 
of passing through a series of locks. This invention 
was projected by our fellow-townsman, H. H. Dodge, 
Esq., president of the Potomac Lock and Dock Com- 
pany, and was designed and worked up in its details 
by W. R. Hutton, chief engineer of the Chesapeake 
& Ohio Canal. The caisson or tank, turbine water- 
wheel, and all the machinery was built at the Vulcan 
Iron "Works of H. A. Ramsey & Co., of Baltimore. 

A railway was constructed in a diagonal line to the 

•43 



334 THE OUTLET LOCK. 

river, some six hundred feet long, consisting of several 
tracks. On the middle track is the caisson, one hund- 
red and twelve feet long, seventeen feet wide, and 
eight feet deep, closed at each end by gates. On each 
side of the caisson are several cars, filled with stone 
and rocks, to balance the caisson when descending the 
inclined plane with a loaded boat. The mode of ope- 
ration is as follows : The caisson is first run up to the 
cana] gate, or fore-bay, when the front gate of the 
caisson is opened, and, being filled with water, the 
loaded boat is floated into the caisson, which displaces 
a bulk of water equal to its weight. As soon as the 
boat is in, the gate of the caisson is closed, when, by 
the operation of the turbine wheel and the cables 
fastened to the caissons, the boat gradually descends 
to the river, while the counter weights ascend. As 
soon as the caisson has reached the river, the gate is 
opened, and the boat passes into the Potomac. An 
empty boat can then pass in, and, displacing but little 
water, is light, and easily drawn up the inclined plane 
to the canal, the counter weights, which before as- 
cended, now descending as the empty boat approaches 
the top of the railway. 

On the 30th day of May, 1877, a serious accident 
happened at the outlet lock by some derangement of 
the machinery, while a loaded boat was being passed 
down the railway, by which accident Michael Reynolds, 
Sylvester Carroll, and John "W*. Mead were killed. 

The Potomac Lock and Dock Company had used 
every precaution to have the machinery made of the 
best iron, to prevent accidents and insure success in 



FORM OP GOVERNMENT. 335 

the working of the lock ; but all human foresight is 
not sufficient to guard against unexpected occurrences, 
as was shown in this case. And it appears that the ' 
loss of life is an incident in all public undertakings, 
as, in the building of the Capitol, State Department, 
and other public buildings, railroads, and canals, where 
human life has been lost. As regards the accident 
above described, no blame can be attached to the 
owners of the outlet lock. 

The great advantage derived from the construction 
of this work is the short space of time required to 
pass a boat through the lock and then to the wharves 
of Georgetown. To pass a boat from the same point 
down the level of the canal, and then through a series 
of locks to the basin or the river, would require two 
and one-half hours, even admitting that the prism of 
flotation is perfect in every lock before a boat is floated 
into it ; but by the new lock, and the assistance of a 
steam tug, a loaded boat is floated to the wharf at any 
part of the town in less than a half hour. 

ACT OF CONGRESS PROVIDING A FORM OF GOVERNMENT 
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the United States of America in Congress assem- 
bled, That all the territory which was ceded by the 
State of Maryland to the Congress of the United States 
for the permanent seat of the Government of the 
United States shall continue to be designated as the 
District of Columbia. Said District, and the property 
and persons that may be therein, shall be subject to 



336 FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 

the following provisions for the government of the 
same, and also to any existing laws applicable thereto 
not hereby repealed or inconsistent with the provisions 
of this act. The District of Columbia shall remain 
and continue a municipal corporation, as provided in 
section 2 of the Eevised Statutes relating to said Dis- 
trict, and the Commissioners herein provided for shall 
be deemed and taken as officers of such corporation ; 
and all laws now in force relating to the District of 
Columbia, not inconsistent with the provisions of this 
act, shall remain in full force and effect. 

" Sec. 2. That within twenty days after the approval 
of this act, the President of the United States, by and 
with the advice and consent of the Senate, is hereby 
authorized to appoint two persons, who, with an officer 
of the Corps of Engineers of the United States Army, 
whose lineal rank shall be above that of captain, shall 
be Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and 
who, from and after July 1st, 1878, shall exercise all 
the powers and authority now vested in the Commis- 
sioners of said District, except as are hereinafter lim- 
ited or provided, and shall be subject to all restrictions 
and limitations and duties which are now imposed upon 
said Commissioners. The Commissioner who shall be 
an officer detailed, from time to time, from the Corps 
of Engineers by the President for this duty, shall not 
be required to perform any other, nor shall he receive 
any other compensation than his regular pay and al- 
lowance as an officer of the Army. The two persons 
appointed from civil life shall, at the time of their ap- 
pointment, be citizens of the United States, and shall 



FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 337 

have been actual residents of the District of Columbia 
for three years next before their appointment, and 
have, during that period, claimed residence nowhere 
else; and one of said three Commissioners shall be 
chosen president of the Board of Commissioners at 
their first meeting, and annually and whenever a va- 
cancy shall occur thereafter ; and said Commissioners 
shall, each of them, before entering upon the discharge 
of his duties, take an oath or affirmation to support 
the Constitution of the United States, and to faith- 
fully discharge the duties imposed upon him by law ; 
and said Commissioners appointed from civil life shall 
each receive for his services a compensation at the rate 
of five thousand dollars per annum, and shall, before 
entering upon the duties of the office, each give bond 
in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, with surety as is 
required by existing law. The official term of said 
Commissioners appointed from civil life shall be three 
years, and until their successors are appointed and 
qualified; but the first appointment shall be one Com- 
missioner for one year and one for two years, and at 
the expiration of their respective terms their success- 
ors shall be appointed for three years. Neither of 
said Commissioners, nor any officer whatsoever of the 
District of Columbia, shall be accepted as surety upon 
any bond required to be given to the District of Col- 
umbia ; nor shall any contractor be accepted as surety 
for any officer or other contractor in said District. 

" Sec. 3. That as soon as the Commissioners ap- 
pointed and detailed as aforesaid shall have taken 
and subscribed the oath or affirmation hereinbefore re- 



338 F0EM OF GOVERNMENT. 

quired, all the powers, rights, duties, and privileges 
lawfully exercised by, and all property, estate, and ef- 
fects now vested by law in the Commissioners ap- 
pointed under the provisions of the act of Congress 
approved June 20th, 1874, shall be transferred to and 
vested in and imposed upon said Commissioners ; and 
the functions of the Commissioners so appointed under 
the act of June 20th, 1874, shall cease and determine. 
And the Commissioners of the District of Columbia 
shall have power, subject to the limitations and pro- 
visions herein contained, to apply the taxes or other 
revenues of said District to the payment of the current 
expenses thereof, to the support of the public schools, 
the fire department, and the police, and for that pur- 
pose shall take possession and supervision of all the 
offices, books, papers, records, moneys, credits, secu- 
rities, assets, and accounts belonging or appertaining 
to the business or interests of the government of the 
District of Columbia, and exercise the duties, powers, 
and authority aforesaid ; but said Commissioners, in 
the exercise of such duties, powers, and authority, shall 
make no contract, nor incur any obligation other than 
such contracts and obligations as are hereinafter pro- 
vided for, and shall be approved by Congress. The 
Commissioners shall have power to locate the places 
where hacks shall stand, and change them as often as 
the public interests require. Any person violating any 
orders lawfully made in pursuance of this power shall 
be subject to a fine of not less than ten nor more than 
one hundred dollars, to be recovered before any jus- 
tice of the peace in an action in the name of the Com- 



FOKM OF GOVEKNMENT. 339 

missioners. All taxes heretofore lawfully assessed and 
due, or to become due, shall be collected pursuant to 
law, except as herein otherwise provided ; but said 
Commissioners shall have no power to anticipate taxes 
by a sale or hypothecation of any such taxes or evi- 
dences thereof, but they may borrow, for the first fiscal 
year after this act takes effect, in anticipation of col- 
lection of revenue, not to exceed two hundred thou- 
sand dollars, at a rate of interest not exceeding five 
per centum per annum, which shall be repaid out of 
the revenues of that year. And said Commissioners 
are hereby authorized to abolish any office, to consoli- 
date two or more offices, reduce the number of em- 
ployees, remove from office, and make appointments 
to any office under them authorized by law ; said Com- 
missioners shall have power to erect light, and main- 
tain lamp posts, with lamps, outside of the city limits, 
when, in their judgment, it shall be deemed proper or 
necessary : Provided, That nothing in this act con- 
tained shall be construed to abate in any wise or in- 
terfere with any suit pending in favor of or against 
the District of Columbia or the Commissioners there- 
of, or affect any right, penality, forfeiture, or cause of 
action existing in favor of said District or Commis- 
sioners, or any citizen of the District of Columbia, or 
any other person, but the same may be commenced, 
proceeded for, or prosecuted to final judgment, and 
the corporation shall be bound thereby as if the suit 
had been originally commenced for or against said cor- 
poration. The said Commissioners shall submit to the 
Secretary of the Treasury, for the fiscal year ending 



340 FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 

June 30th, 1879, and annually thereafter, for his exam- 
ination and approval, a statement showing in detail the 
work proposed to be undertaken by them during the 
fiscal year next ensuing, and the estimated cost there- 
of; also the cost of constructing, repairing, and main- 
taining all bridges authorized by law across the Poto- 
mac River within the District of Columbia, and also 
all other streams in said District ; the cost of maintain- 
ing all public institutions of charity, reformatories, and 
prisons belonging to or controlled wholly or in part by 
the District of Columbia, and which are now by law 
supported wholly or in part by the United States or 
District of Columbia ; and also the expenses of the 
Washington Aqueduct and its appurtenances; and 
also an itemized statement and estimate of the amount 
necessary to defray the expenses of the government of 
the District of Columbia for the next fiscal year: Pro- 
vided, That nothing herein contained shall be con- 
strued as transferring from the United States authori- 
ties any of the public works within the District of Col- 
umbia now in the control or supervision of said au- 
thorities. The Secretary of the Treasury shall care- 
fully consider all estimates submitted to him as above 
provided, and shall approve, disapprove, or suggest 
such changes in the same, or any item thereof, as he 
may think the public interest demands ; and after he 
shall have considered and passed upon such estimates 
submitted to him, he shall cause to be made a state- 
ment of the amount approved by him, and the fund or 
purpose to which each item belongs, which statement 
shall be certified by him, and delivered, together with 



FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 341 

the estimates as originally submitted, to the Commis- 
sioners of the District of Columbia;, who shall transmit 
the same to Congress. To the extent to which Con- 
gress shall approve of said estimates, Congress shall 
appropriate the amount of fifty per centum thereof; 
and the remaining fifty per centum of such approved 
• estimates shall be levied and assessed upon the taxa- 
ble property and privileges in said District other than 
the property of the United States and of the District 
of Columbia; and all proceedings in the assessing, 
equalizing, and levying of said taxes, the collection 
thereof, the listing return and penalty for taxes in ar- 
rears, the advertising for sale and the sale of property 
for delinquent taxes, the redemption thereof, the pro- 
ceedings to enforce the lien upon unredeemed prop- 
erty, and every other act and thing now required to 
be done in the premises, shall be done and performed 
at the times and in the manner now provided by law, 
except in so far as is otherwise provided by this act : 
Provided, That the rate of taxation in any one year 
shall not exceed one dollar and fifty cents on every 
one hundred dollars of real estate not exempted 
by law, according to the cash valuation thereof: 
And provided farther, Upon real property held and 
used exclusively for agricultural purposes, without 
the limits of the cities of Washington and George- 
town, and to be so designated by the assessors in their 
annual returns, the rate for any one year shall not 
exceed one dollar on every one hundred dollars. The 
collector of taxes, upon the receipt of the duplicate of 
assessment, shall give notice for one week, in one 

44 



342 FORM OP GOVERNMENT. 

newspaper published in the city of Washington, that 
he is ready to receive taxes ; and any person who shall, 
within thirty days after such notice given, pay the 
taxes assessed against him, shall be allowed by the col- 
lector a reduction of five per centum on the amount 
of his tax ; all penalties imposed by the act approved 
March 3d, 1877, chapter 117, upon delinquents for de- 
fault in the payment of taxes levied under said act, 
at the times specified therein, shall, upon payment of 
the said taxes assessed against such delinquents within 
three months from the passage of this act, with inter- 
est at the rate of six per cent, thereon, be remitted. 

" Sec. 4. That the said Commissioners may, by gen- 
eral regulations consistent with the act of Congress of 
March 3d, 1877, entitled 'An act for the support of 
the government of the District of Columbia for the 
fiscal year ending June 30th, 1878, and for other pur- 
poses,' or with other existing laws, prescribe the time 
or times for the payment of all taxes and the duties 
of assessors and collectors in relation thereto. All 
taxes collected shall be paid into the Treasury of the 
United States, and the same, as well as the appropria- 
tions to be made by Congress as aforesaid, shall be 
disbursed for the expenses of said District, on itemized 
vouchers, which shall have been audited and approved 
by the auditor of the District of Columbia, certified 
by said Commissioners, or a majority of them ; and 
the accounts of the said Commissioners and the tax 
collectors, and all other officers required to account, 
shall be settled and adjusted by the accounting officers 
of the Treasury Department of the United States. 



FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 343 

Hereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay the 
interest on the three-sixty-five bonds of the District of 
Columbia, issued in pursuance of the act of Congress 
approved June 20th, 1874, when the same shall be- 
come due and payable ; and all amounts so paid shall 
be credited as a part of the appropriation for the year 
by the United States toward the expenses of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, as hereinbefore provided : 

" Sec. 5. That, hereafter, when any repairs of streets, 
avenues, alleys, or sewers within the District of Co- 
lumbia are to be made, or when new pavements are 
to be substituted in place of those worn out, new ones 
laid, or new streets opened, sewers built, or any works, 
the total cost of which shall exceed the sum of one 
thousand dollars, notice shall be given in one newspa- 
per in Washington, and if the total cost shall exceed 
five thousand dollars, then in one newspaper in each 
of the cities of New York, Philadelphia, and Balti- 
more also for one week, for proposals, with full speci- 
fications as to materials for the whole or any portion 
of the works proposed to be done ; and the lowest re- 
sponsible proposal for the kind and character of pave- 
ment or other work which the Commissioners shall de- 
termine upon shall in all cases be accepted : Provided, 
however, That the Commissioners shall have the right, 
in their discretion, to reject all such proposals : Pro- 
vided, That the work capable of being executed under 
a single contract shall not be subdivided so as to re- 
duce the sum of money to be paid therefor to less than 
one thousand dollars. All contracts for the construc- 
tion, improvement, alteration, or repairs of the streets, 



344 FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 

avenues, highways, alleys, gutters, sewers, and all work 
of like nature shall be made and entered into only by 
and with the official unanimous consent of the Com- 
missioners of the District, and all contracts shall 
be copies in a book kept for that purpose, and be 
signed by the said Commissioners, and no contract in- 
volving an expenditure of more than one hundred 
dollars shall be valid until recorded and signed as 
aforesaid. No pavement shall be accepted nor any 
pavement laid except that of the best material of its 
kind known for that purpose, laid in the most substan- 
tial manner; and good and sufficient bonds to the 
United States, in a penal sum not less than the amount 
of the contract, with sureties to be approved by the 
Commissioners of the District of Columbia, shall be 
required from all contractors, guaranteeing that the 
terms of their contracts shall be strictly and faithfully 
performed to the satisfaction of and acceptance by 
said Commissioners; and that the contractors shall 
keep new pavements or other new works in repair 
for a term of five years from the date of the com- 
pletion of their contracts ; and ten per centum of the 
cost of all new works shall be retained as an additional 
security and a guarantee fund to keep the same in re- 
pair for said term, which said per centum shall be in- 
vested in registered bonds of the United States or of 
the District of Columbia, and the interest thereon paid 
to said contractors. The cost of laying down said 
pavement, sewers, and other works, or of repairing 
the same, shall be paid for in the following propor- 
tions and manner, to wit : When any street or ave- 



FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 345 

ime through which a street railway runs shall be paved, 
such railway company shall bear all the expense for 
that portion of the work lying between the exterior 
rails of the tracks of such roads, and for a distance of 
two feet from and exterior to such track or tracks on 
each side thereof, and of keeping the same in repair ; 
but the said railway companies, having conformed to 
the grades established by the Commissioners, may use 
such cobblestone or Belgian blocks for paving their 
tracks, or the space between their tracks, as the Com- 
missioners may direct; the United States shall pay 
one-half of the cost of all work done under the pro- 
visions of this section, except that done by the railway 
companies, which payment shall be credited as part of 
the fifty per centum which the United States contrib- 
utes toward the expenses of the District of Columbia 
for that year; and all payments shall be made by the 
Secretary of the Treasury on the warrant or order of 
the Commissioners of the District of Columbia or a 
majority thereof, in such amounts and at such times 
as they may deem safe and proper in view of the pro- 
gress of the work : That if any street railway com- 
pany shall neglect or refuse to perform the work re- 
quired by this act, said pavement shall be laid between 
the tracks and exterior thereto of such railway by the 
District of Columbia ; and if such company shall fail 
or refuse to pay the sum due from them in respect of 
the work done by or under the orders of the proper 
officials of said District in such case of the neglect or 
refusal of such railway company to perform the work 
required as aforesaid, the Commissioners of the Dis- 



346 FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 

trict of Columbia shall issue certificates of indebted- 
ness against the property, real or personal, of such rail- 
way company, which certificates shall bear interest at 
the rate of ten per centum per annum until paid, and 
which, until they are paid, shall remain and be a lien 
upon the property or against which they are issued to- 
gether with the franchise of said company ; and if the 
said certificates are not paid within one year, the said 
Commissioners of the District of Columbia may pro- 
ceed to sell the property against which they are issued, 
or so much thereof as may be necessary to pay the 
amount due ; such sale to be first duly advertised daily 
for one week in some newspaper published in the city 
of Washington, and to be at public auction to the high- 
est bidder. When street railways cross any street or 
avenue, the pavement between the tracks of such rail- 
way shall conform to the pavement used upon such 
street or avenue, and the companies owning these in- 
tersecting railroads shall pay for such pavements in 
the same manner and proportion as required of other 
railway companies under the provisions of this section. 
It shall be the duty of the Commissioners of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia to see that all water and gas mains, 
service pipes, and sewer connections are laid upon any 
street or avenue proposed to be paved or otherwise 
improved before any such pavement or other perma- 
nent works are put down; and the Washington Gas 
Light Company, under the direction of said Commis- 
sioners, shall, at its own expense, take up, lay, and re- 
place all gas mains on any street or avenue to be paved, 
at such time and place as said Commissioners shall di- 



FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 347 

rect. The President of the United States may detail 
from the Engineer Corps of the Army not more than 
two officers, of rank subordinate to that of the engi- 
neer officer belonging to the Board of Commissioners 
of said District to act as assistants to said Engineer 
Commissioner, in the discharge of the special duties 
imposed upon him by the provisions of this act. 

" Sec. 6. That from and after the 1st day of July, 
1878, the board of metropolitan police and the board 
of school trustees shall be abolished, and all the 
powers and duties now exercised by them shall be 
transferred to the said Commissioners of the District 
of Columbia, who shall have authority to employ such 
officers and agents and to adopt such provisions as 
may be necessary to carry into execution the powers 
and duties devolved upon them by this act. And the 
Commissioners of the District of Columbia shall, from 
time to time, appoint nineteen persons, actual residents 
of said District of Columbia, to constitute the trustees 
of public schools of said District, who shall serve with- 
out compensation and for such terms as said Commis- 
sioners shall fix. Said trustees shall have the powers 
and perform the duties in relation to the care and 
management of the public schools which are now au- 
thorized by law. 

" Sec. 7. That the offices of sinking fund commis- 
sioners are hereby abolished; and all duties and 
powers possessed by said commissioners are trans- 
ferred to, and shall be exercised by, the Treasurer of 
the United States, who shall perform the same in ac- 
cordance with the provisions of existing laws. 



348 FORM OP GOVERNMENT. 

" Sec. 8. That in lieu of the board of health now 
authorized by law, the Commissioners of the District 
of Columbia shall appoint a physician as health officer, 
whose duty it shall be, under the direction of the said 
Commissioners, to execute and enforce all laws and 
regulations relating to the public health and vital sta- 
tistics, and to perform all such duties as may be as- 
signed to him by said Commissioners ; and the board 
of health now existing shall, from the date of the ap- 
pointment of said health officer, be abolished. 

" Sec. 9. That there may be appointed by the Com- 
missioners of the District of Columbia, on the recom- 
mendation of the health officer, a reasonable number 
of sanitary inspectors for said District, not exceeding 
six, to hold such appointment at any one time, of 
whom two may be physicians, and one shall be a per- 
son skilled in the matters of drainage and ventilation ; 
and said Commissioners may remove any of the sub- 
ordinates, and from time to time may prescribe the 
duties of each ; and said inspectors shall be respect- 
ively required to make, at least once in two weeks, a 
report to said health officer, in writing, of their in- 
spections, which shall be preserved on file ; and said 
health officer shall report in writing annually to said 
Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and so 
much oftener as they shall require. 

" Sec 10. That the Commissioners may appoint, on 
the like recommendation of the health officer, a reason- 
able number of clerks, but no greater number shall 
be appointed, and no more persons shall be employed 
under said health officer, than the public interests de- 
mand and the appropriation shall justify. 



FORM OF GOVERNMENT. " 349 

" Sec. 11. That the salary of the health officer shall 
be three thousand dollars per annum; and the salary 
of the sanitary inspectors shall not exceed the sum of 
one thousand two hundred dollars per annum each ; 
and the salaries of the clerks and other assistants of 
the health officer shall not exceed in the aggregate the 
amount of seven thousand dollars, to be a] (portioned 
as the Commissioners of the District of Columbia may 
deem best. 

" Sec. 12. That it shall be the duty of the said Com- 
missioners to report to Congress at the next session 
succeeding their appointment a draft of such additional 
laws or amendments to existing laws as in their opin- 
ion are necessary for the harmonious working of the 
system hereby adopted, and for the effectual and 
proper government of the District of Columbia ; and 
said Commissioners shall annually report their official 
doings in detail to Congress on or before the first 
Monday of December. 

" Sec. 13. That there shall be no increase of the 
present amount of the total indebtedness of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia ; and any officer or person who shall 
knowingly increase, or aid or abet in increasing, such 
total indebtedness, except to the amount of the two 
hundred thousand dollars, as authorized by this act, 
shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and. 
on conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprison- 
ment not exceeding ten years, and by fine not exceed- 
ing ten thousand dollars. 

" Sec. 14. That the term 'school houses ' in the ad 
of June 17th, 1870, chapter 30, was intended to em- 



-f 



350 FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 

brace all collegiate establishments actually ' used for 
educational purposes, and not for private gain ; and 
that all taxes heretofore imposed upon such establish- 
ments, in the District of Columbia, since the date of 
said act are hereby remitted, and where the same or 
any part thereof has been paid, the sum so paid shall 
be refunded. But if any portion of any said building, 
house, or grounds in terms excepted is used to secure 
a rent or income, or for any business purpose, such 
portion of the same, or a sum equal in value to such 
portion, shall be taxed. 

" Sec. 15. That all laws inconsistent with the pro- 
visions of this act be, and the same are hereby, re- 
pealed. 

"Approved, June 11, 1878." 




LBJe?9 



